Disaster
On December 30, 1970, the 38 day shift workers entered the 36" tall mine shaft at 7 A.M. and crawled to a depth of about 2,400 feet. The explosion occurred at about 12:10 P.M. The bodies were removed within 24 hours and the mine was sealed until an investigation could begin. A lone survivor, A.T. Collins, was reentering the shaft after a lunch break and was blown out of the mine by the explosion. Collins was one of three miners who testified that he had seen primer cord – an illegal fuse – at the mine site.
Illegal primer cord was found in the December 30 blast site, as well as at the site of a December 22 blast at the mine.
According to a memoir by James D. Ausenbaugh, who was editor of the Courier-Journal's state desk at the time of the disaster, one of the mine owners complained at the mine site about the 1969 mine safety law and those who had supported it. One of the bystanders, Leslie County Judge George Wooton, confronted the owner and beat him bloody. The owner was carried from the mine site and Wooton never faced any charges.
Read more about this topic: Hurricane Creek Mine Disaster
Famous quotes containing the word disaster:
“When disaster waves, I try not to wave back.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“The disaster ... is not the money, although the money will be missed. The disaster is the disrespect—this belief that the arts are dispensable, that they’re not critical to a culture’s existence.”
—Twyla Tharp (b. 1941)