The Blasting Crew Disaster

Fictional record. This page describes an incident from a fictional setting, not a real event. Information is based on the cited canon, with adaptations and interpretation distinguished where necessary. It is kept separate from the real MineArchive corpus — see Fictional.

Date	13 December 1951
Mine	Blackwood Mines
Primary type	Collapse / Roof Fall
Associated types	Entrapment
Fatalities	18 (Eighteen of the thirty trapped miners were killed in the cave-in itself or died of starvation before rescue; the other twelve survived only by cannibalising the dead.)
Context	During active mining (Occurred during active blasting operations deep in the mine.)
Status	Researched

A specialist blasting crew of thirty miners, drilling and dynamiting the North West Mines in search of tin and radium, were trapped underground by a sudden cave-in; only twelve survived, by resorting to cannibalism, before rescue reached them weeks later.

Cause

A cave-in during blasting operations deep in unstable ground.

What happened

On 13 December 1951, the Blasting Crew — a specialist team assigned to drill and dynamite deeper into the North West Mines in search of further tin and radium — were working far underground when a cave-in sealed them in. Rescue did not reach them for weeks; trapped in the dark with dwindling supplies, eighteen of the thirty were killed or starved to death, while the remaining twelve survived only by resorting to cannibalism of the others.

Rescue & recovery

The twelve survivors were finally rescued in January 1952 and taken directly to the Blackwood Pines Sanatorium, owned by the same Jefferson Bragg who owned the mine, rather than to conventional medical care.

Memorials & commemoration

None within the story; the twelve survivors' fate instead became the origin of the Wendigos that haunt Blackwood Mountain — see Blackwood Mines and The Wendigos.

Recorded claims

Each claim is marked with its basis — explicit canon, MineArchive inference, adaptation only, or fandom interpretation — and attached to the source(s) below. Where tellings disagree, both are kept.

On 13 December 1951 a cave-in trapped the thirty-strong Blasting Crew underground; eighteen died or starved before rescue reached them weeks later, and the surviving twelve resorted to cannibalism to survive. (explicit canon)
The twelve survivors were rescued in January 1952 and taken to Jefferson Bragg's own sanatorium rather than conventional medical care, where his secret experimentation on their ongoing transformation led to the Wendigo outbreak that follows. (explicit canon)

Sources

(interpretation) Jefferson Bragg — Until Dawn Wiki (Fandom)
(interpretation) North West Mines — Until Dawn Wiki (Fandom)

Record created: 26 August 2026 · Last researched: 26 August 2026