Explosion disasters

Firedamp, coal dust or blasting explosions underground.

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21 disasters in the 1910s, of 502.

Disaster	Date	Type	Region	Fatalities
Wellington Pit explosion, 1910 An explosion of firedamp and coal dust in the No. 3 North District of Wellington Pit, Whitehaven, on the evening of 11 May 1910 killed 136 men and boys. The fire that followed could not be fought, and the pit was sealed two days later with the dead still inside; it was not reopened until the end of September.	11 May 1910	Explosion	Cumbria	136
Great Mountain Colliery misfired shot, 1910 On 31 May 1910 two hardground men were killed at Great Mountain Colliery, at Tumble in Carmarthenshire, when a charge of rippite that had missed fire exploded as they cleared away debris.	31 May 1910	Explosion	Carmarthenshire	2
Pretoria Pit Disaster At about 7.50 on the morning of Wednesday 21 December 1910, an explosion tore through the workings of the Hulton Colliery Company’s Bank Pit No. 3 at Over Hulton, near Westhoughton — the pit universally known as the Pretoria Pit. Of the 344 men and boys underground in the affected districts, only three came out alive, and one of those died the following day. The final toll of 344 dead makes it the worst mining accident in Lancashire’s history and the third worst in Britain, after the Oaks Colliery explosion of 1866 and Senghenydd in 1913.	21 December 1910	Explosion	Greater Manchester	344
Cwmaman Colliery gas explosion, 1911 Around midday on Saturday 16 September 1911 an outburst of gas and an explosion in the main intake of the Hafod district at Cwmaman Colliery, near Aberdare, killed the lampman William Bryant and the haulier Thomas Davies and injured two more. Dust poured from the top of the pit. About 600 men were brought out, and the 1,600 at neighbouring Fforchwen, joined to Cwmaman underground, were ordered out too. Davies was a sergeant in the rescue brigade that came to recover him.	16 September 1911	Explosion	Rhondda Cynon Taf	2
Jamage Pit explosion Coal in a pillar being worked out at Jamage was found slightly warm two days before. The management decided to build the district off and withdrew everyone except the men putting up the stoppings. The stoppings were practically finished when, at about half past nine on the morning of Saturday 25 November 1911, the enclosed area exploded and partially blew them out. Thirty-one people were in the pit. Six died of afterdamp and fourteen were injured.	25 November 1911	Explosion	Staffordshire	6
Bedwas Navigation Colliery Explosion, 1912 An underground explosion at Bedwas Navigation Colliery on 27 March 1912, within weeks of the pit raising its first coal, badly injured twelve men, three of whom died. The cause was attributed to a spark from the colliery's electric signalling system.	27 March 1912	Explosion	Caerphilly	3
Trane Pit shaft explosion, 1912 At about six on the morning of Wednesday 17 April 1912 firedamp exploded in the Trane Pit at Gilfach Goch, just deepened by the Cambrian Combine, while men on a staging 40 yards down were walling the mouth of a new fan drift. Four were killed and three burned. The inquest blamed a sinker's pipe.	17 April 1912	Explosion	Rhondda Cynon Taf	4
Cadeby Main Colliery disaster, 1912 A firedamp explosion at Cadeby Main Colliery in the early hours of 9 July 1912 killed 35 men outright, with three more later dying of their injuries; a second explosion that same day killed 53 members of the rescue party sent to recover the dead, bringing the total death toll to 91 — one of the worst mining disasters in British history.	9 July 1912	Explosion	South Yorkshire	91
Senghenydd colliery disaster, 1913 An explosion in the western workings of Universal Colliery killed 439 miners and one rescuer — the worst mining disaster in British history.	14 October 1913	Explosion	Caerphilly	440
Glynea Colliery explosion, 1913 Four days after Senghenydd, on 18 October 1913, a blown-out shot of Swalite ignited firedamp in the Fiery seam at Glynea Colliery near Llanelli. Nine men eating their food outbye of the brattice were burned and eight died over the following fortnight; criminal proceedings and civil claims followed.	18 October 1913	Explosion	Carmarthenshire	8
Wharncliffe Silkstone Colliery explosion, 1914 The ventilating fan at Wharncliffe Silkstone Colliery, near Barnsley, was stopped for about sixteen minutes on the afternoon of Saturday 30 May 1914 to be changed over from gas to steam. Gas gathered at the face in William Fisher's gate; when the fan restarted it was carried over an electric coal cutter whose switch cover was held by one bolt instead of six and was not flame-tight. Twelve men died. The jury found the whole of the management 'very negligent, but not criminally so'.	30 May 1914	Explosion	South Yorkshire	12
Clifton Colliery explosion, 1914 About 8 a.m. on Tuesday 4 August 1914, with the pit off work, an explosion of firedamp in the Lickbank seam of the William Pit killed the deputy Isaac Smith, the examiner James Wright, who were repairing a gateroad, and the pumpman John Wilkinson at his electric pump, and injured a fourth man. No one had inspected the district since the Friday, the fan had stood for twelve hours on the Saturday, and a leaking pump motor sat in a badly placed pump-house through which the return air could circulate. The manager could not say what fired the gas; the agent, manager and under-manager pleaded guilty at Workington on 28 October 1914 to the breach of section 64 of the Coal Mines Act.	4 August 1914	Explosion	Cumbria	3
Newburgh Colliery gas explosion, 1914 A gas explosion at about 10.35 p.m. on Sunday 16 August 1914 in a pair of headings at Newburgh Colliery killed the chargeman Samuel Ainsley and Stephen Hume, who died the following day, and slightly injured a third man.	16 August 1914	Explosion	Northumberland	2
Minnie Pit explosion, 1915 At about half past five on the evening of Sunday 17 January 1915 an explosion in the Minnie Pit at Halmer End, North Staffordshire, killed nine of a party of 27 engineering staff repairing a broken haulage engine, among them the colliery engineer John White. It was believed to have begun in the gassy Bullhurst district, but the inquest found no evidence of its cause. Three years later the same seam exploded and killed 155.	17 January 1915	Explosion	Staffordshire	9
Eden Colliery gelignite explosion, 1915 Frozen gelignite cartridges, being thawed over an improvised fire outside a cabin near the mouth of a new drift close to Eden Colliery, exploded on the evening of 15 February 1915, killing two men and seriously injuring three others.	15 February 1915	Explosion	County Durham	2
Blairmuckhill Colliery explosion, 1915 On 27 March 1915 the under-manager of Blairmuckhill, James Hawson, took two mining contractors below to show them a stretch of face they might tender for. At the pit bottom the fireman told him the section had not yet been inspected as the statute required; Hawson said he would inspect it himself and led the two men down the dook, a safety lamp in his hand and a naked lamp burning in his cap, the contractors with naked lights too. A short way in the gas fired, putting out every lamp and burning all three. Hawson died the next day and Richard Sommerville a week later; Charles Stewart was badly burned. The Court of Session refused Hawson's widow compensation on the ground that he had brought the peril on himself.	27 March 1915	Explosion	North Lanarkshire	2
Brayton Domain Colliery Explosion, 1915 At about eleven in the morning on 26 April 1915, a shot of gelignite was fired into an almost entirely undermined rib of coal in the Yard Band seam of Brayton Domain No. 4 Colliery, next to a goaf whose condition nobody had checked. The gas in it exploded. Seven of the eight men at work in the district died of their burns over the following weeks, among them the deputy and shotfirer himself.	26 April 1915	Explosion	Cumbria	7
Woodhorn Colliery explosion A repairing shift of thirteen men was setting steel roof girders in the Main Seam at Woodhorn when firedamp, accumulated over a weekend of reduced ventilation, was ignited by a naked light. All thirteen died.	13 August 1916	Explosion	Northumberland	13
Cronton Colliery explosion An explosion in the Pasture (Crombouke) seam during the morning shift killed eight men after two shots were fired simultaneously at adjoining stalls, likely igniting firedamp released by a roof fall.	11 December 1917	Explosion	Merseyside	8
Minnie Pit Explosion, 1918 At about 9.45 on the morning of Saturday 12 January 1918, pay day, with 248 men and boys underground, an explosion of firedamp in or near the goaf at the top of No. 4 district in the Bullhurst seam of the Minnie Pit developed into an explosion of coal dust that swept the roads of the Bullhurst and Banbury Seven Feet seams. It killed 155, 144 of them by the afterdamp, and 44 of the dead were boys under sixteen; forty-seven escaped through the old Bullhurst Rearers shaft at Miles Green. Hugh Doorbar, captain of the Birchenwood rescue brigade, died two days later in breathing apparatus. Because the seam was gassy and liable to heat, the recovery of the workings took eighteen months, the inquest could not sit until October 1919 and the inquiry reported in 1920, finding the probable cause a defective safety lamp and blaming no one, but noting that the dust had not been removed and that the fireman's district was too large.	12 January 1918	Explosion	Staffordshire	156
Oxcroft Colliery explosion, 1919 On Sunday 6 April 1919, while auxiliary fans were being moved, gas exploded in the Creswell Level district of Oxcroft Colliery, near Bolsover, killing six men. The jury found it was fired by an electric spark, probably in a switch box.	6 April 1919	Explosion	Derbyshire	6