MineArchiveDisasters
Explosions, floods, collapses and other major incidents at UK mines — including significant post-closure incidents in abandoned workings. Each record is researched to the same standard as a mine or terminology entry, not just a casualty count.
9 disasters in the 1970s, of 505.
| Disaster | Date | Type | Region | Fatalities |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cynheidre-Pentremawr outburst, 1971 Shortly after noon on 6 April 1971, a heading being driven in the No. 2 Cross Measure Driveage at Cynheidre erupted without warning, ejecting around 400 tons of fine coal and roughly two million cubic feet of firedamp into the workings. Six men were killed by asphyxiation, and the gas travelled far enough through the ventilation system to overcome dozens more at a longwall face a considerable distance away before a quick-thinking electrician shut down an auxiliary fan and slowed its spread. |
6 April 1971 | Gas / Asphyxiation | Carmarthenshire | 6 |
| Cwmgwili Colliery Roof Fall, 1971 A sudden fall of roof in a heading being driven with a continuous miner buried three of the five men working there at Cwmgwili, then one of the Coal Board's most productive and profitable collieries. The other two escaped unhurt. |
7 September 1971 | Collapse / Roof Fall | Carmarthenshire | 3 |
| Lofthouse Colliery disaster, 1973 About three million gallons of water burst into the South 9B district of Lofthouse Colliery from abandoned 19th-century workings in the early hours of 21 March 1973, killing seven men. Only one body was ever recovered. |
21 March 1973 | Flooding / Inundation | West Yorkshire | 7 |
| Seafield Colliery roof fall, 1973 The roof of Seafield Colliery's D22 face, a steep seam running out under the Firth of Forth, collapsed on the evening of 10 May 1973, trapping nine men and killing five. |
10 May 1973 | Collapse / Roof Fall | Fife | 5 |
| Markham Colliery shaft accident, 1973 A descending cage carrying miners at Markham Colliery's No.3 shaft failed to slow before reaching the pit bottom on 30 July 1973, after a fatigue-cracked brake rod fractured; 18 men were killed and 11 seriously injured. |
30 July 1973 | Winding / Shaft Accident | Derbyshire | 18 |
| Houghton Main Colliery explosion, 1975 An explosion in the Meltonfield seam at Houghton Main Colliery on 12 June 1975 killed five men after firedamp, which had accumulated in an unventilated heading for nine days, was ignited by frictional sparking from an auxiliary fan; a major public inquiry followed. |
12 June 1975 | Explosion | South Yorkshire | 5 |
| Ystrad Colliery Explosion, Glanamman, 1978 A gas explosion in a heading about half a mile into Ystrad Colliery, a small licensed anthracite mine at Glynmoch, Glanamman, killed two colliers, David Fish and Vivian Brown. Cigarette ends and matches were found in the heading afterwards, but at the inquest no witness had seen anyone smoke, and the coroner recorded that the cause remained unknown. |
11 May 1978 | Explosion | Carmarthenshire | 2 |
| Bentley Colliery manrider derailment, 1978 An underground manriding train carrying 65 miners derailed after running away down an incline at Bentley Colliery on 21 November 1978, killing seven men and injuring many more. |
21 November 1978 | Haulage / Transport | South Yorkshire | 7 |
| Golborne Colliery explosion, 1979 A firedamp explosion in the Plodder Seam at Golborne Colliery killed ten men on 18 March 1979; a 20-year-old apprentice electrician, seriously injured, was the sole survivor among those caught in the blast. |
18 March 1979 | Explosion | Greater Manchester | 10 |