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Show 16 DIE IN COALMINE EXPLOSION Cave-In Follows Explosion; Bodies Of Victims Not Identified , LETHBR1DGE, Alta., Dec. 10 (U.R) Sixteen miners were killed in an explosion in a coal mine at Coalhurst last night. A cave-in followed the explosion, ex-plosion, burying the victims. The explosion occurred as they descended into the colliery col-liery to relieve the day shift. The bodies were found buried deep in debris. - Thirty men went Into the mine, officials said. Nineteen were trapped. Sixteen were killed and three managed to crawl to safety with but slight injuries. Bodies Kept Underground The bodies were dug out several sev-eral . hours after the blast, ' but were not brought to the surface. A crowd, comprised mainly of wives, children, and other relatives rela-tives of the 30 gathered at the mine head. None knew whose husband hus-band had been killed and Whose had not. . They awaited daylight when the bodies will be taken to the surface for identification., , ' . The cause of the explosion was not at once ascertained. Most of the residents of Coalhurst, Coal-hurst, a tiny mining hamlet near here, gathered at the shaft head. Many miners and residents went down into the mine to dig the dead from, the debris choked passages. One rumor said the explosion ivas due to saboteurs but this was discounted. A spark accidentally Bet off by one of the men could have ignited coal dust. Another theory was that the explosion was caused by spontaneous combustion. The mine waB operating on a curtailed schedule, having laid off several hundred miners recently. |
