Kaitangata mining disaster

The coal mine at Kaitangata, South Otago, was rocked by an explosion at about 8 a.m. Extra miners had started work only the day before, and on the day of the explosion 47 men were employed at the mine.

At first no one knew how many men were underground. A train was sent to nearby Balclutha to bring help. An initial rescue attempt was thwarted by debris from the explosion and the presence of fire damp (methane gas which forms an explosive mixture with a certain proportion of air). Rescue parties were unable to enter the mine until about midday.

By early evening it was clear that 34 men had died and none had survived. The condition of their bodies showed that they had not been killed by the explosion but suffocated by a belt of ‘black damp’ – a mixture of nitrogen and carbon dioxide. The coroner’s report identified faults in the mine’s safety practices and ventilation system. There was also a lack of safety lamps.

The explosion seemed to have been sparked off when the mine manager’s brother carried a candle into a disused part of the mine in which fire damp had accumulated. The accident led to the introduction of stricter controls on mining.