Oakes weekly Republican. (Oakes, Dickey County, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1883-1898, 1892-03-18
MINERS ENTOMBED.
NEARLY THREE HUNDRED MEN
BURIED AT CHALEROI.

The Disaster Caused by n Gas Explosion.
The Mine on Fire and Probably Two
Hundred Have Pcrisled - Many
Women Among the Victims,
BRrssELs. March ~. --An accident
which. it is feared, will result i'll terri
BILE loss of life, has occurred in col '
liery near Charleroi. An explosion of !
fire damp took place in coal pit i'll !.
which s7O miners were NJ work Of this !
number forty escaped by means OF the
second shaft and sixteen others were
rescued in terrible and it is believed
fatally injured condition. Five bodies
have heen taken out, 1t is thought that
the number of dead will reach loo.
The effect of the explosion was ter
rife. The cage and the ventilator were
shattered A large number ct the
miners arc married aud their families
are Mt tho pit iNor!th frantic with sfief'
Volunteers are plenty ana almost super
human efforts are being made to rescue
the imprisoned miners. The govasn-
1nent is receiving bulletins of the
ress of the work at the shaft and II
sent representative to the spot 10 as
certain the facts for use in investigation
of the cause of the accident aud i'll plac'
ing the responsibility for it.
! Tho Mine FlnnslinE.
| ;,h
Cured is in the second gallery, 500
yards below the surface, and work at
this depth is difficult and dangerous.
Volunteers have been let down three
times in cage. When half way down
on the first trip the cavii.g of the shaft
frightened them and they returned.
| Five of the ten men refused to go down
again as the nina was flooding rapidly,
they said, and the loosened sides of the
shaft threatened to fall in and bury
them. The others made the se' trip
and reached the mouth of the d
gallery. They found a few men
were nearest the shaft when the.
explosion occurred. These miners hi.
run for their lives but had been caught
at the entrance by falling timbers.
All had broken bones, and three
were SO firmly lodged in the
wreck that the rescuing party dared
not wait to extricate them. Five of the
wounded We're brought up on the sec.
ond trip and two others and five dead
were brought up on the third trip.
Aid Donated by king Leopold.
King Leopold has contributed 5000
francs from his private purse to the
temporary support of the families Of
miners already known to have beer
killed. Hundreds of men and womel
from near by villages have gathered
near the mouth of the pit and are camp
ing around bonfires watching the pro
gress of the work Of rescue. Familie!
and relatives of the 20D or moro mel
still entombed have made their home.
in the fields for the night and are cool,
ing their meals over open air fires SO a
to get the earliest news from those i'm
prisoned by the shattered shaft.
Two Hundred Still Entombed.
The rescued men say that twenty-five
of the miners still imprisoned ar
women. There are about 200 in all still
to be accounted for. 1t is thought tina
inose nearest the first cave-in in the gal
lery may be rescued alive. Those fur
thest from the entrance of the CALLER,
have probably been suffocated befor,
this and if not will die before they ca,
es reached. The dead will number a
least 100 and probably 150
The work has been set back twice b,
the caving of great blocks of soil ant
stone from the sides of the wrecked
shaft. and since the third trip no vclun
teers for the work of rescue could b
found. The superintendent of the min,
has twice gone down 200 feet, but ha
returned saying that the chances would
be four to one against him if he wen
| lower