Evening star., 1934-12-27
Fireman, Engineer Among
Victims in West Virginia
Mountains.
EXPLOSION SKATERS
BUILDING NEAR SCENE
Horror Described at Hospital by
Injured-0ne Tells of Seeing
Mans Head Blown Off.
By the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
MONTGOMERY, w. Va, December
27.-Thirteen miners were killed and
at least 43 injured today by the ex-
plosion of a locomotive of a train TAX
ing workers to mine of the Elkhorn-
Piney Coal Co., in the heart of this
mountain country.
The fireman and engineer were
among those killed.
The blast, said to have been caused
by buckling of fire box cover and
the subsequent loosening of the boiler
tubes. echoed throughout the valley
along which the little train daily
hauled the workres to and from their
homes.
Pieces of the locomotive and cars
were blown 100 yards and the flying
debris cut or bruised workers who
were able TO flee the wreckage itself
100 in Three Coaches.
More than 100 men were riding on
the three-coach train. OF the dead
only the fireman and engineer were
identified Immediately. They we're: w.
M. Blankenship. about 81, of Mont
gomery. the engineer; D. l.. Oxley, 35,
formerly of Lincoln County, w. Va,
the fireman.
Bodies were hurled along the tracks
and building nearby was shattered
by the blast which tore the locomotive
to bits.
Charles Kitchen, Is, both hands
burned, his face scalded, head band
aged and ankles sprained, told of the
explosion from his bed in the Coal
Valley Hospital.
I'VE were sitting in the coach talk
ing and waiting for them to move
on when we heard a blow" he said.
The first one blew the cap off the
front of the engine and hit lot of
us in the coach. Then a minute later
there was another and it tore our
car to pieces"
About 100 men were riding in the
first coach. Nearly all we're hurt.
Ambulances and private automobiles
from all sections of Armstrong Greek
poured injured into the hospital at
Montgomery, where 35 had been re-
were being rushed there.
Stories of men being literally blown
to pieces were told by the injured men
as they reached the hospital
"One man said he saw another's
head blown off," said DR.. w. r.
Wilkinson, as he took a moment from
treatment Of injured to answer ques-
tions.
Too Busy to Talk.
We've been so busy we haven't had
time to try and piece together a
coherent story of just what happened Vi
The place where the explosion oc-
CURED is about IL miles up Armstrong
Greek from Montgomery in the thinly
settled coal regions of the hills.
The men live in tiny settlements
along the valley and ride to work on
the train which stops at their doors
each morning.
Others employed in the mine-one
of the largest in this ield-ride busses
from their homes in larger villages.
The blast hurled dozens of the pas
sengers clear of the tracks and the in
jured cried out in pain as they lay
exposed to chilling cold.
Company officials, rushing to the
scene in autos, trucks and buses.
quickly gathered the dead and injured
and rushed them to hospital here.
At the hospital an attach said:
1--WE are afraid number of the in
jured men will die"
Within an hour the streets were
filled with men, women and children
who rushed from the mining settle
ments looking for their loved ones.
One woman, holding baby to her
breast to protect 1t from the cold,
moaned:
Il am sure my husband must be in
there I haven't been able to find
.him."
The explosion occurred at 6:21 am.
eastern standard time) few seconds
after the putting locomotive paused to
get up steam.
Number Killed BY Boiler.
c. r. Stahl, division superintendent
of the coal company, said:
''The boiler left the trucks and came
down on the first coach, killing and
injuring a number of men.
There are 13 bodies in the morgue
I don't know whether any Of the
others will die"
Montgomery, town of about 1900
inhabitants, is about so miles south
east of Charleston, the State capital.
The explosion occurred II miles below
here.
The railroad belongs to the coal
company, which is a subsidiary of the
Koppers Coal and Transportation Co.
of Pittsburgh. It is a standard gauge
line. The mine is the third largest
of Is operated by the company and
o,,,,Iox,c about O0n mon