The Courrières mine disaster, Europe's worst mining accident, caused the death of 1,099 miners in Northern France on 10 March 1906.[1] This disaster was surpassed only by the Benxihu Colliery accident in China on 26 April 1942, which killed 1,549 miners.[2] A coaldust explosion, the cause of which is not known with certainty, devastated a coal mine operated by the Compagnie des mines de houille de Courrières. Victims lived nearby in the villages of Méricourt (404 people killed), Sallaumines (304 killed), Billy-Montigny (114 people killed), and Noyelles-sous-Lens (102 people killed). The mine was 2 km (1 mi) to the east of Lens, in the Pas-de-Calais département (about 220 km, or 140 miles, north of Paris).[3]
Le Petit Journal illustration of the Courrières mine disasterCourrieres Mine disaster.Niva illustration
A large explosion was heard shortly after 06:30 on the morning of Saturday 10 March 1906. An elevator cage at Shaft 3 was thrown to the surface, damaging the pit-head; windows and roofs were blown out on the surface at Shaft 4; an elevator cage raised at Shaft 2 contained only dead or unconscious miners.
It is generally agreed that the majority of the deaths and destruction were caused by an explosion of coal dust which swept through the mine. However it has never been ascertained what caused the initial ignition of the coal dust. Two main causes have been hypothesized:
An accident during the handling of mining explosives.
Ignition of methane by the naked flame of a miner's lamp.
There is evidence favoring both these hypotheses. Blasting was being done in the area believed to be the source of the explosion, after initial attempts to widen a gallery had been abandoned the previous day for lack of success. Many workers in the mine used lamps with naked flames (as opposed to the more expensive Davy lamps), despite the risk of gas explosions. As Monsieur Delafond, General Inspector of Mines, put it in his report:
The primary cause of the Courrières catastrophe could not be determined with absolute certainty. This is what generally happens in catastrophes where all the witnesses to the accident are gone.[4]
Rescue attempts began quickly on the morning of the disaster, but were hampered by the lack of trained mine rescuers in France at that time, and by the scale of the disaster: some two-thirds of the miners in the mine at the time of the explosion perished, while many survivors suffered from the effects of gas inhalation. Expert teams from Paris and from Germany arrived at the scene on 12 March. The first funerals occurred on 13 March, during an unseasonal snowstorm; 15,000 people attended. The funerals were a focus for the anger of the mining communities against the companies which owned the concessions, and the first strikes started the next day in the Courrières area, extending quickly to other areas in the départements of the Pas-de-Calais and the Nord.
The slow progress of the rescue exacerbated the tensions between the mining communities and the companies. By 1 April only 194 bodies had been brought to the surface. There were many accusations that the Compagnie des mines de Courrières was deliberately delaying the reopening of blocked shafts to prevent coalface fires (and hence to save the coal seams): more recent studies tend to consider such claims as exaggerated.[citation needed] The mine was unusually complex for its time, with the different pitheads being interconnected by underground galleries on multiple levels. Such complexity was intended to facilitate access for rescuers in the case of an accident—it also helped the coal to be brought to the surface—but it contributed to the large loss of life by allowing the dust explosion to travel further and then by increasing the debris which had to be cleared by the rescuers. About 110 km (70 mi) of tunnel are believed to have been affected by the explosion.[5] Gérard Dumont of the Centre historique minier de Lewarde has shown that the plans of the mine existing at the time of the accident were difficult to interpret:[6] some measured the depth of galleries by reference to the minehead, others by reference to sea level.
Survivorsedit
About 500 miners were able to reach the surface during the hours immediately after the explosion.[7] Many were severely burned and suffering from the effects of mine gases.[7]
A group of thirteen survivors, known later as the rescapés, was found by rescuers on 30 March, twenty days after the explosion.[8] They had survived at first by eating bark from the crossbeams, later by eating a rotting mine horse.[8] They avoided dehydration by drinking the water dripping from the walls.[8] The two eldest (39 and 40 years old) were awarded the Légion d'honneur, the other eleven (including three younger than 18 years of age) received the Médaille d'or du courage.[citation needed] A final survivor was found on 4 April.[9]
Public responseedit
Miners' strike in Pas de Calais, 1906
The disaster at the Courrières mine was one of the first in France to be reported on a large scale by the media of the day. The Law on the Freedom of the Press of 29 July 1881 had specified the basis for a (relative) freedom of the press, and Lille, the regional capital less than 40 km (25 mi) away, had at least five daily newspapers whose reporters engaged in a fierce competition for news from the mine. Photographs could not then be published in newspapers for technical reasons, but were widely distributed as postcards; on average, each French resident sent fifteen postcards during 1906. A postcard of the thirteen rescapés was available nine days after their discovery.[10]
The first public appeal for funds to help the victims and their families was established the day after the explosion by Le Réveil du Nord, a Lille daily newspaper. In the newspaper L'Humanité of the next day, socialist and pacifist politician Jean Jaurès wrote:
It is a call for social justice that comes to the nation's representatives from the depths of the burning mines. It is the harsh and suffering destiny of work that, once more, manifests itself to all. And would political action be something else than the sad game of ambitions and vanities if it didn't propose to itself the liberation of the workers' people, the organisation of a better life for those who work?[11]
Such appeals became widespread, and were supplemented by the sale of special collections of postcards depicting the disaster. The different appeals were eventually subsumed by an official fund—itself established by a law enacted only four days after the explosion—and a total of 750,000 francs was raised. This at a time when the daily wage for a miner (a well-paid job compared to other manual work) was less than six francs. Over half the total was contributed by the Compagnie des mines de houille de Courrières and by the Comité central des houillières de France (Central Committee of French Coal Mines, an employers' association).
On 18 March, a strike was publicized and quickly extended itself to the entire region. Minister of Interior Georges Clemenceau visited the region twice, but "no promises were kept", according to L'Humanité.[citation needed] Clemenceau's first visit was filled with optimism and ex-president Jean Casimir-Perier stated that "I have the strongest hope that our discussion... will lead to an understanding which is desirable for all."[12] However, the following day the strikers rejected the concessions offered by the mining companies and the number of strikers reached 46,000.[13]
^"catastrophe du 10 mars 1906 « Catastrophe de Courrières » : une expression impropre !". L'Humanité. March 10, 2006.[permanent dead link]
^(in French)Journal officiel de la République Française, 1906-08-11.
^"Cent ans après la catastrophe de Courrières, les descendants des mineurs témoignent" (in French). Libération. 2006-03-06.
^"Courrières, mars 1906 : Lewarde présente une reconstitution en 3D sur le déclenchement de la tragédie et le parcours des rescapés" (in French). La Voix du Nord. 2006-03-05.[permanent dead link]
^ abL. L. (1906-03-11). "Frygtelig Grubekatastrofe i Frankrig" [Horrible mine disaster in France]. Politiken (in Danish).
^ abcLevy, Louis (1906-03-31). "13 levende Minearbejdere frelste i Courrières" [13 living miners saved in Courrières]. Politiken (in Danish).
^Levy, Louis (1906-04-05). "Endnu et "levende Lig" i Courrières" [Another "living corpse" in Courrières]. Politiken (in Danish).
^The postcard, postmarked 1906-04-08, is in the archives of the Centre historique minier de Lewarde.
^"Il y a cent ans, la catastrophe minière du 10 mars 1906". L'Humanité. March 10, 2006.[permanent dead link]
^"The French Mining Strike". The Times. March 19, 1906. Retrieved April 30, 2020.
^"To-Days Telegrams". Egyptian Gazette. March 20, 1906. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
Referencesedit
(in French) Vouters, Bruno (2006). Courrières 10 mars 1906 : la terrible catastrophe. Lille: Editions La Voix du Nord. 48 pp. ISBN2-84393-100-2.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Courrières mine disaster.
((in French); each day during 2006 a new article about the March 10, 1906 accident)
"Commemorating France’s Worst Mining Tragedy: 1099 Workers Perished to Profit the Bosses", article from L'Humanité . Translated from "Ils étaient 1099, morts pour le profit"[permanent dead link], published on March 11, 2006.
courrières, mine, disaster, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor,. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Courrieres mine disaster news newspapers books scholar JSTOR March 2021 Learn how and when to remove this template message The Courrieres mine disaster Europe s worst mining accident caused the death of 1 099 miners in Northern France on 10 March 1906 1 This disaster was surpassed only by the Benxihu Colliery accident in China on 26 April 1942 which killed 1 549 miners 2 A coaldust explosion the cause of which is not known with certainty devastated a coal mine operated by the Compagnie des mines de houille de Courrieres Victims lived nearby in the villages of Mericourt 404 people killed Sallaumines 304 killed Billy Montigny 114 people killed and Noyelles sous Lens 102 people killed The mine was 2 km 1 mi to the east of Lens in the Pas de Calais departement about 220 km or 140 miles north of Paris 3 Le Petit Journal illustration of the Courrieres mine disasterCourrieres Mine disaster Niva illustrationA large explosion was heard shortly after 06 30 on the morning of Saturday 10 March 1906 An elevator cage at Shaft 3 was thrown to the surface damaging the pit head windows and roofs were blown out on the surface at Shaft 4 an elevator cage raised at Shaft 2 contained only dead or unconscious miners Contents 1 Initial cause 2 Rescue attempts 3 Survivors 4 Public response 5 See also 6 References 7 References 8 External linksInitial cause editIt is generally agreed that the majority of the deaths and destruction were caused by an explosion of coal dust which swept through the mine However it has never been ascertained what caused the initial ignition of the coal dust Two main causes have been hypothesized An accident during the handling of mining explosives Ignition of methane by the naked flame of a miner s lamp There is evidence favoring both these hypotheses Blasting was being done in the area believed to be the source of the explosion after initial attempts to widen a gallery had been abandoned the previous day for lack of success Many workers in the mine used lamps with naked flames as opposed to the more expensive Davy lamps despite the risk of gas explosions As Monsieur Delafond General Inspector of Mines put it in his report The primary cause of the Courrieres catastrophe could not be determined with absolute certainty This is what generally happens in catastrophes where all the witnesses to the accident are gone 4 Rescue attempts edit nbsp Courrieres mine disaster Rescuer equipped with Guglielminetti Drager breathing apparatus front Rescue attempts began quickly on the morning of the disaster but were hampered by the lack of trained mine rescuers in France at that time and by the scale of the disaster some two thirds of the miners in the mine at the time of the explosion perished while many survivors suffered from the effects of gas inhalation Expert teams from Paris and from Germany arrived at the scene on 12 March The first funerals occurred on 13 March during an unseasonal snowstorm 15 000 people attended The funerals were a focus for the anger of the mining communities against the companies which owned the concessions and the first strikes started the next day in the Courrieres area extending quickly to other areas in the departements of the Pas de Calais and the Nord The slow progress of the rescue exacerbated the tensions between the mining communities and the companies By 1 April only 194 bodies had been brought to the surface There were many accusations that the Compagnie des mines de Courrieres was deliberately delaying the reopening of blocked shafts to prevent coalface fires and hence to save the coal seams more recent studies tend to consider such claims as exaggerated citation needed The mine was unusually complex for its time with the different pitheads being interconnected by underground galleries on multiple levels Such complexity was intended to facilitate access for rescuers in the case of an accident it also helped the coal to be brought to the surface but it contributed to the large loss of life by allowing the dust explosion to travel further and then by increasing the debris which had to be cleared by the rescuers About 110 km 70 mi of tunnel are believed to have been affected by the explosion 5 Gerard Dumont of the Centre historique minier de Lewarde has shown that the plans of the mine existing at the time of the accident were difficult to interpret 6 some measured the depth of galleries by reference to the minehead others by reference to sea level Survivors editAbout 500 miners were able to reach the surface during the hours immediately after the explosion 7 Many were severely burned and suffering from the effects of mine gases 7 A group of thirteen survivors known later as the rescapes was found by rescuers on 30 March twenty days after the explosion 8 They had survived at first by eating bark from the crossbeams later by eating a rotting mine horse 8 They avoided dehydration by drinking the water dripping from the walls 8 The two eldest 39 and 40 years old were awarded the Legion d honneur the other eleven including three younger than 18 years of age received the Medaille d or du courage citation needed A final survivor was found on 4 April 9 Public response edit nbsp Miners strike in Pas de Calais 1906The disaster at the Courrieres mine was one of the first in France to be reported on a large scale by the media of the day The Law on the Freedom of the Press of 29 July 1881 had specified the basis for a relative freedom of the press and Lille the regional capital less than 40 km 25 mi away had at least five daily newspapers whose reporters engaged in a fierce competition for news from the mine Photographs could not then be published in newspapers for technical reasons but were widely distributed as postcards on average each French resident sent fifteen postcards during 1906 A postcard of the thirteen rescapes was available nine days after their discovery 10 The first public appeal for funds to help the victims and their families was established the day after the explosion by Le Reveil du Nord a Lille daily newspaper In the newspaper L Humanite of the next day socialist and pacifist politician Jean Jaures wrote It is a call for social justice that comes to the nation s representatives from the depths of the burning mines It is the harsh and suffering destiny of work that once more manifests itself to all And would political action be something else than the sad game of ambitions and vanities if it didn t propose to itself the liberation of the workers people the organisation of a better life for those who work 11 Such appeals became widespread and were supplemented by the sale of special collections of postcards depicting the disaster The different appeals were eventually subsumed by an official fund itself established by a law enacted only four days after the explosion and a total of 750 000 francs was raised This at a time when the daily wage for a miner a well paid job compared to other manual work was less than six francs Over half the total was contributed by the Compagnie des mines de houille de Courrieres and by the Comite central des houillieres de France Central Committee of French Coal Mines an employers association On 18 March a strike was publicized and quickly extended itself to the entire region Minister of Interior Georges Clemenceau visited the region twice but no promises were kept according to L Humanite citation needed Clemenceau s first visit was filled with optimism and ex president Jean Casimir Perier stated that I have the strongest hope that our discussion will lead to an understanding which is desirable for all 12 However the following day the strikers rejected the concessions offered by the mining companies and the number of strikers reached 46 000 13 See also editKameradschaft a 1931 dramatic film by G W Pabst based on the disaster Fraternity a 2016 brass band contest piece by Thierry Deleruyelle based on the disasterReferences edit Stephen J Spignesi 2004 Catastrophe The 100 Greatest Disasters Of All Time p 168ff ISBN 9780806525587 Marcel Barrois in French Le Monde March 10 2006 permanent dead link catastrophe du 10 mars 1906 Catastrophe de Courrieres une expression impropre L Humanite March 10 2006 permanent dead link in French Journal officiel de la Republique Francaise 1906 08 11 Cent ans apres la catastrophe de Courrieres les descendants des mineurs temoignent in French Liberation 2006 03 06 Courrieres mars 1906 Lewarde presente une reconstitution en 3D sur le declenchement de la tragedie et le parcours des rescapes in French La Voix du Nord 2006 03 05 permanent dead link a b L L 1906 03 11 Frygtelig Grubekatastrofe i Frankrig Horrible mine disaster in France Politiken in Danish a b c Levy Louis 1906 03 31 13 levende Minearbejdere frelste i Courrieres 13 living miners saved in Courrieres Politiken in Danish Levy Louis 1906 04 05 Endnu et levende Lig i Courrieres Another living corpse in Courrieres Politiken in Danish The postcard postmarked 1906 04 08 is in the archives of the Centre historique minier de Lewarde Il y a cent ans la catastrophe miniere du 10 mars 1906 L Humanite March 10 2006 permanent dead link The French Mining Strike The Times March 19 1906 Retrieved April 30 2020 To Days Telegrams Egyptian Gazette March 20 1906 Retrieved May 1 2020 References edit in French Vouters Bruno 2006 Courrieres 10 mars 1906 la terrible catastrophe Lille Editions La Voix du Nord 48 pp ISBN 2 84393 100 2 External links edit nbsp France portal nbsp Energy portal nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Courrieres mine disaster Centre historique minier de Lewarde in French each day during 2006 a new article about the March 10 1906 accident Commemorating France s Worst Mining Tragedy 1099 Workers Perished to Profit the Bosses article from L Humanite Translated from Ils etaient 1099 morts pour le profit permanent dead link published on March 11 2006 50 24 55 N 2 53 24 E 50 4154 N 2 8900 E 50 4154 2 8900 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Courrieres mine disaster amp oldid 1133137893, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
