Appin mine disaster

The Appin coal mine disaster was a coal mine disaster in New South Wales that killed fourteen people in 1979, where a group of 46 workers were doing their 3-11 pm shifts and eating in the crib 600 metres underground.

Causes

An explosion that was caused by sparks from a fan control box which ignited a buildup of flammable and poisonous methane gas ripped apart the busiest pit in late Tuesday night 24 July 1979, and caused a series of fires in the mine's damaged ventilation system. Just after 11 pm, a huge roar was heard, and one survivor reported that the men had very little warning.

Engineer Jim Hoffman felt the blast one kilometre away.

Rescue Operation and Aftermath

The rescue team was distressed by what they saw. Among the twisted metal and clouds of gas were the bodies of ten men sitting where they had been relaxing in the crib, with another four bodies being found a few metres from the coal face. The miners had no time to escape the danger or save themselves. Thirty-one survivors reached the surface, with some sustaining severe burns. The search for survivors lasted 16 hours.

81 miners working on the same seam of coal were killed under similar circumstances nearly 100 years earlier.

Findings

The New South Wales Government ordered a judicial Inquiry into the disaster that found both the state government and the mine's owners, Australian Iron and Steel Ltd., guilty of contributing to the explosion.

The men responsible for carrying out safety checks before the explosion had noted the gas build-up and the ventilation problem, but did not warn anyone of the potential danger. However, the explosion was confined to the K Panel heading due to the fact that the area had been adequately Stone Dusted only months before the explosion. Ironically one of the miners killed, Jurgen Lauterbach, was one of the miners responsible for this. The other two miners were 'Burnsie' and Phil Watson.

The deaths of the 14 men led to the imposition of stricter safety rules for all mines. It was recommended that automatic devices be installed in mines to give continuous reading of gases, that a special officer supervise ventilation, and that the number of mine inspectors be increased.

References

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