Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1892-03-17
Terrible Explosion OF Gas in Bs1gia
Coal Mine.


BRUSSELS, March 11.--An accident &C.
Cured to-day in colliery near Charleroi,
which, it is feared, will result in great loss
of life. Two hundred miners were employ
ed in coal pit when there was terrific
explosion of fire-damp. The pit mouth was
rendered unavailable and up to the present
time the fate of the imprisoned workmen is
unknown.
Tremendous excitement prevails in the
vicinity of the pit. Men, women and chill
dren have gathered in an enormous crowd
and are wild with fear. The effect of the
explosion was terrific. The cage and VEN
tilator at the mouth Of the pit were shat
tered, and the men, il any survived the
shock of the explosion, have probably met
their death from choke damp, as with the
destruction Of the ventilator, it was impos-
slble to rid the mine Of gases. A large num-
Der of the miners are married and their
families are at the pit mouth frantic with
grief Volunteers are plenty and almost
superhuman efforts are being made to clear
the shaft
Later.-Thirty Of the entombed miners
have been rescued and I've corpses have so
far been recovered. The explosion occur
red in gallery 400 feet below the surface
There were working 270 men, and Of this
number 40 escaped by means of second
| shaft and 16 were rescued in terrible, and,
it is believed, fatally injured condition.
Excitement among the crowd OF women and
children continues to grow In intensity. 1t
| lie feared of the men in the mine 2OO have
been killed.
| Arrangements were quickly completed for
making thorough search OF all the cham
bers and galleries in the mine and the first
| IT, I1x. = b.
shaft. The searchers had to proceed with
much caution, as huge piles OF debris which
continually barred their passage had to be
removed before an advance could be made
| and their own lives were menaced by the
possible fall of immense masses Of coal from
the roof and walls. There was long inter-
| val Of painful suspense before signal was
received from below by the watchers at the
mouth Of the pit that the rescuers had
reached some miners and were ready to have
them hoisted up
The limp and black forms of 80 or 40
poor men were brought to the surface. All
the victims were either dead or badly hurt
and the face of each was fearfully disfgured.
| Their countenances were smeared with
blood and were completely black from smoke
and dust aud were swollen out of all pro-
portion. great sheet Of flames must have
swept through the mine as the hair, boards
and eyelashes of all the unfortunate men
had been burned Off, and besides the cruel
cuts and bruises they had received their
bodies were horribly burned.
The crowd at the mouth OF the pit con.
stantly increased as the day wore on. The
large force Of gendarmes which had beer
hurriedly brought there were almost unable
to cope with the crowd and 1t was only
with the greatest difficulty that they were
able to force a passage through the mass for
men bearing a stretcher containing the
mangled forms
OF the men thus far brought out Of the
mine alive only few are likely to recover.
In every instance the men were dreadfully
bruised, torn and burned and were also
Frustrated by inhaling the choke damp,
which poured In volumes through tho mine.
The noxious gases which still prevails In
the mine, owing to the vsntilator being de-
stroyed by the explosion, greatly rstards
the work Of the rescuing parties, as 1t ii
impossible TO breathe the heavy air for any
length of time and there 10 constant danger
Of another explosion.
"a. Owing to the condition OF the mine hard
ly a shadow of hope is felt that any miners
still entombed can survive.
The latest official estimate places the mum
Der of dead at goo.
The ministers Of husbandry and public
works are at the scene and are PERSONAL
directing the operations Of the rsscuers