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	Disasters - Names		Disasters - Names

Date:	26th October 1909
Colliery:	Leasingthorne
Company:	Bolckow, Vaughan and Co., Ltd.
Cause:	Irruption of Water
Lives Lost:	1
Category:	Miscellaneous Underground Accidents :: Irruption of Water

One man was drowned by an irruption of water from old workings at Leasingthorne Colliery on October 26th. The occurrence was due to a serious error of judgment on the part of the manager and his officials. The old workings of Auckland Park Colliery were being approached from Leasingthorne Colliery, and, although I understand that the water contained in the old workings was not considered likely to be a dangerous quantity, holes were bored in advance of the faces. This was a very proper precaution to take, no matter how small the accumulation of water was thought to be. On October 13th the back-shift deputy stopped a working place because he found water was oozing from the face. He reported the matter, but nothing was done in this face to prove the thickness of the coal remaining between the new and the old workings. Instead, the hewers were brought a pillar further out and a pillar further down, and set on to take this pillar out. On October 26th the coal at the face of the place which had been stopped gave way, and a volume of water rushed through the vent made and into the dip workings. Four men were in danger; three managed to get clear away, but the remaining one lost his life. It would appear that in the rush to get clear of the danger, the one man drowned had, in the dark, gone straight on into an old road, instead of turning up to the left. When found there was a stone on him, and medical examination showed that his skull was fractured. This no doubt was done when he was making efforts to get clear of the water in the old road into which he had gone.

The plans were not altogether accurate. A dip place had been driven, but it had not holed, and had not, therefore, been marked on the plan.

Source:

1909 Mines Inspectors Report (Cd 5177) Where to find this report

	Hodgson, John, aged 27, Hewer, He lost his life when hurrying from his place in the dark and taking a wrong turning
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