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Author: Admin | 2025-04-27
Baoshabaotian/Getty Images Updated on March 05, 2019 Mining has always been a risky occupation, especially in developing nations and countries with lax safety standards. Here are the deadliest mine accidents in the world. Benxihu Colliery This iron and coal mine started under dual Chinese and Japanese control in 1905, but the mine was in territory invaded by the Japanese and became a mine using Japanese forced labor. On April 26, 1942, a coal-dust explosion — a common hazard in underground mines — killed a full third of the workers on duty at the time: 1,549 died. A frenzied effort to cut off the ventilation and seal the mine to smother the fire left many unevacuated workers, who initially survived the blast, to suffocate to death. It took ten days to remove the bodies — 31 Japanese, the rest Chinese — and they were buried in a mass grave. Tragedy struck China again when 682 died on May 9, 1960, in the Laobaidong colliery coal dust explosion. Courrières Mine Disaster A coal-dust explosion ripped through this mine in Northern France on March 10, 1906. At least two-thirds of the miners working at the time were killed: 1,099 died, including many children — those who survived suffered burns or were sickened by the gases. One group of 13 survivors lived for 20 days underground; three of those survivors were under age 18. The mine accident sparked strikes from the angry public. The exact cause of what ignited the coal dust was never discovered. It remains the worst mining disaster in Europe's history. Japan Coal Mining Disasters On Dec. 15, 1914, a gas explosion at the Mitsubishi Hojyo coal mine in Kyūshū, Japan killed 687, making it the deadliest mine accident in Japan's history. But this country would see its share of more
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