MineArchiveRhigos Colliery Explosion
| Date | 10 July 1941 |
|---|---|
| Mine | Rhigos Colliery |
| Region | Neath Port Talbot |
| Primary type | Explosion |
| Associated types | Gas / Asphyxiation |
| Fatalities | 16 (All 16 are believed to have been killed instantly by the blast, about a mile inside the workings. They came from the Aberdare and Glynneath area and included a father and son. Thirty-six men were underground at the time.) |
| Context | During active mining (A normal evening shift; the explosion occurred between 8 and 9pm.) |
Between eight and nine on the evening of 10 July 1941, gas exploded about a mile inside No. 4 Drift at Rhigos Colliery, above the Vale of Neath. Sixteen men and boys were killed, all believed to have died instantly in the blast, out of 36 underground. The dead came from the Aberdare and Glynneath area and included a father and son, and five of them were aged 18 or under. At the September inquest the coroner concluded that the gas had been ignited by a miner smoking: cigarettes and matches were found on and beside the bodies.
Cause
Ignition of gas in No. 4 Drift. The coroner concluded the gas had been fired by a miner smoking underground.
Contributing factors
Contraband tobacco and matches taken underground. The manager gave evidence that all men were thoroughly searched every three months and that ten per cent were searched before each shift, but accepted that a man determined to carry contraband below could do so.
What happened
The explosion tore through workings roughly a mile in from the drift mouth and was violent enough to bring down substantial falls of roof elsewhere underground. Every pit pony in the affected district was killed. The first out was an evacuee boy of 14 who had started work at the mine only hours earlier and who staggered from the drift dazed but uninjured, to be surrounded at once by women waiting for news; four men were led out shortly afterwards. The 16 who died included Dan Jones senior, a 65-year-old collier, and his son; Richard Howells, a 56-year-old rider; and four boys of 16 and 18 working as helpers.
Rescue & recovery
Rescue parties went in at once and were badly hampered by the large roof falls the explosion had caused. Nurses, doctors and ambulancemen reached the site quickly and first aid was given in the open by moonlight until an improvised hospital was set up at a nearby farm.
Investigation & inquiry
The inquest opened at Aberdare Police Court on 15 August 1941 and was adjourned to 1 September. The coroner concluded that the disaster had been caused by smoking. A half-smoked cigarette in a tin was found between two of the bodies in the drift, and a box holding three matches and five cigarettes on another. Arthur Roberts, Senior Mines Inspector, gave evidence that after a process of elimination there was no possible cause of the gas igniting other than a match.
Recorded claims
Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.
- The coroner concluded the gas was ignited by a miner smoking. Cigarettes and matches were found in the drift, and the Senior Mines Inspector gave evidence that no other cause of ignition remained after elimination.
- The two accounts disagree on the age of Dan Jones junior: the colliery page gives 38, the 1941 fatality list gives 16 and records him as the son of Dan Jones senior, aged 65. (disputed)
Photographs & further reading
This page doesn't try to reproduce everything — these are the best original sources found for this disaster.
The Welsh fatality register for 1941, whose entries for 10 July carry the fullest narrative of the Rhigos explosion found anywhere: the rescue, the evacuee boy who walked out first, and the coroner's smoking finding with the evidence for it.
View sourceSources
- (secondary) Rhigos Colliery — Welsh Coal Mines
- (secondary) Welsh mining fatalities, 1941 — Welsh Coal Mines
Record created: 4 September 2026 · Last researched: 4 September 2026