Mine disaster

Rescue of the dead after the Courrières mine disaster on March 10, 1906 (1,099 dead)

A mining disaster is an accident that occurs while mining .

General

There are currently no standardized statements in the literature on the definition of a mining accident. Evelyn Kroker has recorded mining accidents in the standard work on mining accidents in German-speaking countries based on the guidelines of the Dortmund Oberbergamt in which two or more people were killed and / or three or more people were affected by the same event. According to Kroker's definition, accidents that do not occur directly during dismantling, but in upstream and downstream areas (e.g. during transport), if they occur within the mine area, also count as pit accidents.

Members of the mine rescue team, specially trained miners, rescue and rescue injured and dead miners.

Types of mining accidents

Different types of mining accidents are possible, depending on the type of rock and the mineral resources extracted.

In coal mines can cause coal dust and fire damp explosions , and to coal fires come. Within the mine accidents, coal dust and firedamp explosions are characterized by a comparatively high number of victims up to the present day.

Other forms of mining accidents that can occur in all types of mines are water and gas leaks .

Collapsing mine workings can cause miners to be buried.

A rock strike can be triggered as a result of instabilities in the overburden .

Situation worldwide

Probably the most serious mining accident in history occurred on April 26, 1942 in the Benxihu mine (China) when, according to official reports, 1549 miners died after an explosion followed by fire.

In the recent past, the most fatal mining accidents in the world have occurred in the Chinese (coal) mines due to poor equipment, poorly trained workers and little investment in new mining and safety technologies. Officials put the number of crashed miners at 5986 in 2005 and 3786 miners in 2007. Unofficially, many more victims are assumed. Between 1992 and 2002, 59,543 miners were killed in mining accidents in China. It is estimated that around 600,000 miners work in tens of thousands of - mostly illegal - small mines. According to official figures, there were 17 fatalities in these small operations in 2000 and 2 deaths per million tons of coal in the larger state mines.

Europe

The worst accident on the European continent occurred on March 10, 1906 in the Courrières mine and claimed 1,099 deaths.

The Ukrainian coal mines are among the most dangerous in Europe. Mine accidents here between 1991 and 2002 claimed at least 3,700 deaths.

Germany

The worst mining accidents in Germany occurred

the Monopol colliery Grimberg 3/4 shaft in Bergkamen (February 20, 1946) with 405 dead,
the Radbod colliery in Bockum-Hövel (November 12, 1908) with 350 dead,
the Luisenthal mine in Völklingen (February 7, 1962) with 299 dead,
the Freiherrlich of Burgker coal and iron and steel works in Freital (2 August 1869) with 276 dead,
the Anna mine in Alsdorf (October 21, 1930) with 271 dead,
the Rubengrube in Neurode (May 10, 1941) with 186 dead,
the Camphausen mine in Qui Various (March 17, 1885) with 180 dead,
the Sachsen colliery in Hamm (April 3, 1944) with 171 dead,
the Wenzelsgrube in Hausdorf (July 9, 1930) with 151 dead,
the Grube speeches in Schiffweiler (January 28, 1907) with 150 dead,
the minister stone colliery in Dortmund (February 11, 1925) with 136 dead,
the Karl Marx factory in Zwickau (February 22, 1960) with 123 deaths ( Zwickau mine disaster 1960 ),
the Carolinenglück colliery in Bochum (February 17, 1898) with 116 dead,
the mine Lorraine 1/2 in Bochum (8 August 1912) with 115 dead,
the Monopol colliery Grimberg 3/4 shaft in Bergkamen (September 11, 1944) with 107 deaths,
the lignite mine in Fohnsdorf (Austria, at that time part of the Greater German Reich) (August 6, 1943) with 104 dead,
the new treasure trove in Lugau (July 1, 1867) with 101 dead,
the Rammelsberg in Goslar (1376) with over 100 dead.