Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1892-03-25
A COLLIERY HORROR.
Scores of Men and Women Per-
ish in a Belgian Mine.
Fire Follows an Explosion and
Cuts Off All Escape.

An accident occurred a few days ago in the
Anderluis Colliery, near Charleroi, Belgium.
which resulted in great loss of life. Two
hundred and thirty-four men were working
in gallery 400 feet below the surface, when
there was terrific explosion of fire-damp.
Forty o! the miners escaped by means of the
second shaft and sixteen others were rescued
having received probably fatal in jures The
cage and the ventilator at the mouth OF the
pit were shattered by the explosion The de-
structlon of the ventilator added an element
of great danger to the situation.
The explosion occurred at o'clock in the
morning. The shock caused by il reSembled
an earthquake. and the ground for large
area in the region of the colliery rocked and
trembled for several seconds. Houses were
shaken to their foundations, windows were
smashed, and crockery and other arti-
Cles of household ware thrown about
and broken. Almost before the
tremblings caused by the mighty explosion
had entirely died away the people began to
rush from their dwellings, and crowds OF
excited men, women and children hocked TO
the mouth OF the pit. Almost every family
in the place had a relative or friend among
the men employed in the mine.
AS soon as the deadly fumes which had
been rushing up the shaft in sitting volumes
had been dissipated, and it was thought that
the pit could be entered with some degree Of
safety willing band of hundreds of brave
men volunteered to descend into the abyss
and begin the work Of rescue.
The shock OF the explosion detached huge
masses of rock and earth and the galleries
are so blocked with the debris that it was i'm
possible to approach nearer than one hum
dred yards to the place where the great body
or the miners were working. Besides the dfft
and rock the carcasses of forty horses blocked
the approach to the lower gallery, and these
had to be cut up and removed before the
rescuers could proceed
The cries and prayers of the crowd were
redOubled the men at the windlasses in
response to the signals of the rescuers began
to haul up the limp and blackened forms Of
from thirty to forty of the miners The VIC
tins were either dead or badly in jured and
the face of each was fearfully disfigured A
great sheet of flame must have swept
through the mine. as the hair. boards and
eyelashes of all the unfortunate men had
been completely burned off, and their bodies
were badly burned.
Among the bodies recovered is that of a
fourteen year-old girl. That she suffered
indescribable agony is shown by the young
face, which is so horribly distorted that it
cannot be recognize I'd The blackened fea-
lures are swollen almost beyond all SEM
blance to humanity.
After it was found that the fire was gain
ing in strength consultation was held be-
tween the mine owners and the engineers
and it was decided that as there was not the
slightest doubt that everybody in
the mine was dead the only course
left open for them to follow if
they hoped to recover the bodies was to
food the mine. Preparations were being
made to carry out this plan but before any
water could be pumped in cries of Fire.
were heard on all sides, and at three
o'clock the flames assembled to the pits
mouth and sparks were scattered in every
direction. A few minutes later an immense
column of flame shot through the ventilat-
ing shaft, piercing the thick clouds of smoke
that were overhanging the shaft. The sight
was grandly magnificent as the mass
of fire shot upward, but it meant certain
death for every person in the mine This
fact was fully recognized by the onlookers,
and the wailing and shrieks of those near
the pits mouth increased in violence as the
lurid flame tore their last faint hope from
them.
In the meantime water had been COM
menced to be thrown into the burning pit
Before it had descended any distance it was
converted into steam and escaped with a
tremendous roaring noise, which added to
the horror of the situation.
The scene has seldom if ever been equalled
in the mining disasters of Belgium. The de-
struction of the buildings on the surface
proceeded without opposition, and by seven
o'clock only the walls were standing.
All the heavy machinery at the mouth Of
the pit was destroyed and fell crashing down
the shaft. This acted as damper against
the flames ascending the shaft to the sur
face and thereafter little fire could be seen,
but it could be heard roaring and seething
through the galleries far below the surface.
The calamity mas crushed the entire
Charleroi district. Nothing is heard save
lamentations for the dead. Many of the
women who have lost their only support
have become hysterical through grief and
the doctors are busy attending to them. In
some cases all the surviving members Of
families still surround the blackened pits
mouth, attracted by the very horror that
has rendered them without head
The Minister Of Public Works has ordered
the distribution of relief and the work is
now being carried on.
By official computation Of the number Or
victims in the Anderlues tragedy, it appears
that there were 234 men and females in the
shaft of whom 154 are dead, eighteen in