1959 Knox Mine Disaster Article

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Cap
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Post by Cap » Wed. Mar. 07, 2007 7:38 pm

( slow day so I copied an article )
[ I guess this is considered news, so I posted under Discussion & News ]

From Wikipedia , free encyclopedia.

The Knox Mine disaster was a mining accident that took place in the village of Port Griffith in Jenkins Township, Pennsylvania, near Pittston, on January 22, 1959.

The River Slope Mine, an anthracite coal mine owned by the Knox Coal Company, flooded when coal company management had the miners dig too close to the riverbed. Tunneling sharply upwards toward the Susquehanna River, the miners reduced the thickness of rock between the mineshafts and the river bed to about 6 feet (1.8 m) -- 35 feet (10.6 m) was considered the minimum for safety. This caused the waters of the river to break through into the mine.

It took 3 days to partially plug the hole in the riverbed, which was done by dumping railcars into the whirlpool formed by the water draining into the mine.

12 people died; 69 others escaped. One miner, Amadeo Pancetti, was awarded the Carnegie Medal for leading 32 miners to safety. The bodies of the 12 who died were never recovered, despite efforts of divers and an attempt to pump the water out of the shafts.

Eventually an estimated 10 billion US gallons (38,000,000 m³) of water filled the mines. Ten people, including the mine superintendent and August J. Lippi, the president of District 1 of the United Mine Workers, were indicted for on a variety of charges, but only 3 (including Lippi) served jail time.


 
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Richard S.
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Post by Richard S. » Thu. Mar. 08, 2007 12:48 am

That happened about 1-2 miles from where I live . Having spent so many hours of my life driving around with my uncle I've heard many stories, one that has fascinated me was his descitption of sitting in a girlfriends living room and hearing the miners working below them. :shock:

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