1943 — Sep 16, Three Point Coal Mine methane gas explosion (match), Three Point, KY–12

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 4-21-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

–12  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, CDC.  Mine Disasters.

–12  US Bureau of Mines. Final Report of Mine Explosion, Three Point Mine…[KY]. 9-16-1943.

Narrative Information

US Bureau of Mines. Final Report of Mine Explosion, Three Point Mine…Kentucky:

“A gas explosion causing the death of 12 men occurred about 9:00 a.m. on September 16, 1943, in the Three Point mine of the Three Point Coal Corporation, Three Point, Kentucky. At the time of the ignition, approximately 50 men were in the workings contiguous to the No. 1 opening, wherein the explosion occurred. The explosion was local in character, and all men working outby the point of origin, and in other outlying sections of this part of the mine, escaped unaided.

“Twelve men working in new 1 right off 12 left, 3 right main, in the immediate vicinity of the explosion, were killed by violence, burns, and afterdamp, but six men working in the face of 12 left entry, about 3,300 feet inby the mouth of new 1 right entry were rescued approximately 14 hours after the explosion. The rescued men had built a barricade of mine ties, covered on the outer side with several thicknesses of vent tubing, at the mouth of a dead-end opening about 100 feet deep and 500 feet from the face of 12 left entry; the vent tubing was slit lengthwise and opened out to hang flat against the barricade….

“All evidence indicates that the explosion resulted when the assistant foreman struck a match in an attempt to relight a nonpermissible flame safety lamp in an explosive mixture of methane and air….” [p. 1]

Sources

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Mining Safety and Health Research..  Mining Disasters (Incidents with 5 or more Fatalities). NIOSH, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2-26-2013 update. Accessed at: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/mining/statistics/disall.htm

and http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/mining/statistics/content/allminingdisasters.html

United States Bureau of Mines, Department of Interior. Final Report of Mine Explosion, Three Point Mine, Three Point Coal Corporation, Three Point, Harland County, Kentucky, September 16, 1943. Accessed 4-21-2024 at: https://usminedisasters.miningquiz.com/saxsewell/THREE_POINT_1943.pdf