#mining disasters

उत्तरी चीन के शांक्सी प्रांत में एक कोयला खदान में विनाशकारी गैस विस्फोट में कम से कम 82 लोग मारे गए, जो हाल के वर्षों में देश की सबसे घातक खनन आपदाओं में से एक है। दुर्घटना के समय कुल 247 कर्मचारी भूमिगत थे। (प्रतीकात्मक छवि, रॉयटर्स) रॉयटर्स की रिपोर्ट के अनुसार, विस्फोट शुक्रवार देर रात किनयुआन काउंटी में लिउशेन्यू कोयला खदान में हुआ, जहां घटना के समय 247 कर्मचारी कथित तौर पर भूमिगत थे। चीनी…

It is generally agreed that the majority of the deaths and destruction were caused by an explosion of coal dust which swept through the mine. However it has never been ascertained what caused the initial ignition of the coal dust.

Two main causes have been hypothesized:

An accident during the handling of mining explosives.

Ignition of methane by the naked flame of a miner's lamp.

A group of 13 survivors, known later as the rescapés, was found by rescuers on 30 March, 20 days after the explosion.

They had survived at first by eating bark from the crossbeams, later by eating a rotting mine horse. They avoided dehydration by drinking the water dripping from the walls.

The two eldest (39 and 40 years old) were awarded the Légion d'honneur, the other eleven (including three younger than 18 years of age) received the Médaille d'or du courage.

A final survivor was found on 4 April.

The Morfa Mining Disaster Premonitions

Source: Alamy Stock Photos

On this day in 1890, the mine at Morfa Colliery near Port Talbot in West Glamorgan, collapsed following a subterranean explosion: 87 miners were killed. The death toll would have been greater if half the shift had not heeded the extraordinary set of supernatural visions that foretold the imminent disaster in the days beforehand.

Mining Myths

Oakes Colliery Disaster. Source: BBC

On this day in 1882, an explosion rocked the Trimdon Grange Colliery in County Durham, killing 68 miners. For most of the nineteenth and much of the twentieth centuries, the risk of fatal injury to miners due to accidents or disasters, was very real. For that reason a range of superstitions, traditions and myths grew up around mines. Examples include: the sweet smell of flowers underground meant a death-flower had taken root, and a prop collapse was imminent; if birds are found in the mine, particularly robins or pigeons, they were known as death-birds, signs of ill-omen; no one must whistle when in a mine, or say the word ‘cat’. Miners whose paths were crossed by rabbits, pigs, birds or people with squints, meant it was best for the miner to take the day off; and, naturally premonitions of disaster meant that the person who had the foretelling dream must not set foot in the mine, or calamity would indeed follow.

On the 6th of December, 1872, a disaster occurred at a coal mining pit near Dawley in Shropshire, England.

Eight miners fell to their deaths when the chain they held to be raised from the mine snapped. The chain, estimated to weigh one tonne, landed on top of them.

Four Things to Know about Trump’s Pick for Transportation Secretary, Elaine Chao (VIDEO)

Deeply experienced as a banker and public servant and married to a prominent senator of the same party, Elaine Chao seems more qualified than many of Trump’s recent appointments.

These four facts about the life of Elaine Chao will show that she left a trail of notable accomplishments and accumulated harsh critics on her way to attaining power in the White House.

Chao Is A Wealthy Immigrant From…

Four Things to Know about Trump’s Pick for Transportation Secretary, Elaine Chao (VIDEO)

Deeply experienced as a banker and public servant and married to a prominent senator of the same party, Elaine Chao seems more qualified than many of Trump’s recent appointments.

These four facts about the life of Elaine Chao will show that she left a trail of notable accomplishments and accumulated harsh critics on her way to attaining power in the White House.

Chao Is A Wealthy Immigrant From…