Mine accidents in the Menzengraben shaft

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The site of the former Menzengraben shaft (2009)

The mining accidents in the Menzengraben shaft occurred on July 7, 1953 and April 17, 1958. A total of nine people died in the carbon dioxide outbreaks in the West Thuringian potash shaft Menzengraben , three in 1953, six in 1958. Both incidents are among the largest outbreaks of carbon dioxide since the beginning of the Potash mining in Germany.

prehistory

From 1911 the “ Grand Duke of Saxony II and III ” pits belonging to the Werra potash district were built in the northern corridor of Stadtlengsfeld . In this context, the Menzengraben workers' settlement was built in addition to the shaft. Like all potash industry works in the Soviet occupation zone , the Menzengraben mine belonging to the Merkers plant was expropriated in 1946 and initially transferred to the Soviet property of the Soviet joint stock company (SAG) Kali. In 1952 the potash works were handed over to the GDR . In 1958 this resulted in the Association of Publicly Owned Enterprises Kali in Erfurt .

In the course of its operation, the shaft was repeatedly plagued by carbon dioxide outbreaks, so that since the resumption of salt mining after the Second World War in 1949 in the Menzengraben pit, blasting was only possible from above ground.

The mining disaster of July 7, 1953

On July 7, 1953, at 11:24 p.m., a gas eruption occurred in the Menzengraben shaft, during which carbon dioxide escaped in an unprecedented extent. Three people died, two men and one woman. The outbreak endangered not only the workforce of the potash mine but also the village of Menzengraben and its inhabitants.

After a detonation ignited from above ground on the evening of July 7, 1953, witnesses heard an unusual hissing lasting about 25 minutes, describing it as similar to the simultaneous venting of steam from several locomotives. A cloud of carbon dioxide spread in the Menzengraben and the Felda valley . According to contemporary witness reports, the carbon dioxide emissions also reached the neighboring towns of Stadtlengsfeld and Dietlas , and geese were found dead more than a kilometer away.

It was possible that the residents warned by sirens left their apartments and houses on time. The passing Feldabahn and the trunk road could be closed in good time to prevent the driver and the night train from Dorndorf to Kaltennordheim from entering the contaminated area.

In addition to several injuries, the consequences of the gas outbreak caused three lives to be mourned, all of them for days. The pit itself was badly damaged.

The abrupt emission of 1 to 2.4 million cubic meters of carbon dioxide created an approximately 200-meter-long cavity underground, with around 100,000 tons of broken salt being released. 1100 to 3900 tons of carbon dioxide were emitted in more than 20 minutes, a record. The event in Menzengraben is considered to be the only accident in which people died from carbon dioxide for days.

The accident of April 17th, 1958

In April 1958, carbon dioxide leaked again from the potash pit in Menzengraben after miners encountered an accumulation of carbon dioxide during an exploratory drilling. The gas exploded along the track , and six miners died.

On the morning of April 17, 1958, employees of an external company drilled an exploratory well , the seventh after six successful wells. At a depth of 71.5 meters, the bore encountered carbon dioxide. The released gas rose explosively up the drill dust drop pipe and spread just as quickly along the route. While the workers of the drilling company were able to get to safety for days, the carbon dioxide expanded in large quantities in the pit. Six miners were able to escape into the shaft in time, 46 workers fled to a higher location underground. 26 potash pals had been warned by the escaping men of the drilling team and were able to escape to a higher point, but were initially trapped. Twelve other people were found passed out.

Mine rescue teams from Dorndorf , Merkers and Unterbreizbach were alerted and came with 178 men. The first helpers were in the shaft just 20 minutes after the gas leaked, but they were only able to rescue six workers dead.

consequences

The responsible ministry of the GDR set up a government commission to find out the causes of the accident. The commission made demands to make the work of miners safer in the future. Thus, the miners were equipped with portable gas protection devices as self-rescuers.

The mining of potash salt in the Menzengraben mine was gradually discontinued after the accident until 1966. Today the access in Menzengraben is still used by K + S AG as a material and weather shaft.

Similar incidents

In a comparable mining accident in the Unterbreizbach mine on October 1, 2013, three miners died from a carbon dioxide eruption at a depth of 900 meters. An eruption in Merkers shaft in 1938 claimed 11 lives.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The unified municipality Stadtlengsfeld . In: District Office Wartburgkreis (Ed.): District journal . Issue 15. Bad Salzungen 2010, p. 11-12 .
  2. ↑ Three miners die in a gas eruption in a potash pit. October 1, 2013, accessed October 5, 2013 .
  3. ↑ Ilga Gäbler: Three who experienced the gas accident. May 24, 2013. Retrieved October 5, 2013 .

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