Name: Courrières mining disaster
Start: 2024-03-10T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2024-03-10T23:59:59-04:00
Location: France

Courrières mining disaster

March 10, 1906, Courrières mining disaster occurred.

Tribute to the Miners – Courrières 1906-2006
Issued on the 100th anniversary of the disaster.
LaPoste March 6, 2006
Illustrated by Jean-Paul Véret-Lemarinier

First Day Cancel issued from Courrières 2006

Advertisement for official first day sale of stamp, which included an exhibit put on by the Local History Club.
The event took place in Courrières.
Also in attendance was illustrator Jean-Paul Véret Lemarinier, who designed of the stamp. Image courtesy https://www.wikitimbres.fr/timbres/4164/hommage-aux-mineurs-courrieres-1906-2006

Among the items available were La Poste’s info page and a number of special issue covers and cancels

On March 10, 1906, the people of Courrières, France were abruptly woken by a violent eruption that shook the entire area. At approximately 7 am, an underground fire and explosion ripped through the Courrières mine, travelling 110 kilometers underground through various shafts leaving 1,099 people dead, and hundreds injured. It is still considered one of Europe’s worst industrial accidents.

The Courrieres mining disaster in France depicted in Le Petit Parisien

For days leading up to the disaster, miners reported smelling gas and seeing smoke rising out of the mines and a day prior to the explosion a fire was reported in the mine itself.

Lille, March 10, 7:50 a.m.

Last night a fire which had been brewing for two or three days broke out in the Cécile pit no. 3, of the Courrières mines, near the Corons Méricourt, at a depth of 280 meters, where masonry work was carried out. L’Écho de Paris March 11, 1906

Efforts to contain the initial fire were carried out the night before the disaster. While an engineer worked to cut off the fire, regular mining continued. In the morning, coal dust ignited, resulting in a massive explosion that killed over half the miners in the pits. When the pit blew, materials from the mine were sent rocketing up through the shafts and rained debris down on the men milling around. The resulting flames, toxic fumes and debris severely burned and killed more workers.

In order to contain the fire, Mr. Barault, engineer, came down at night … to operate … the suffocation valve. That’s all we know about the origin of the terrible disaster. Towards. 7 am, a terrible detonation occurs both in the pits n. 3, n. 4 and not. 2. Cages were thrown at a height of about 10 meters from the pits [1 and 4] …. L’Écho de Paris March 11, 1906

L’Écho de Paris March 11, 1906 Courtesy Bibliothèque nationale de France

By the next day, newspapers were reporting on the number of survivors and conditions at the pit.

At the time the explosion occurred, there were 1,795 miners in the shafts, 591 came back up, so there remain 1,204 buried miners. At pit n. 2, out of 500 miners brought down in the morning, 388 were brought up. Any rescue of the others is impossible.

Currently, at pit no. 3, out of 443 miners lowered, only 43 have been brought up. As the cage is not working and the ladders are broken, we are desperate to remove the others. At pit no. 4, out of 852 miners descended, 135 were brought back up before the explosion by order of engineer Barault, due to the work of dams and the prevention of access to certain galleries, 40 other workers were brought up by ladders. and 10 by the cages, L’Écho de Paris March 11, 1906, 3 a.m. dispatch

Rescue efforts were quickly initiated, with teams from as far as Paris and Germany mobilising to help. The raging fires and fumes prevented rescuers from going far into the pits, leaving an unknown number trapped in the inferno. After three days, the Courrières mining company halted the rescue efforts, infuriating the public and leading to widespread anger.

This anger increased when 20 days after the disaster, 13 men made their way to the surface. They survived by eating wood they peeled off support beams and carefully catching water dripping from the walls to stave off dehydration. At one point during their dark journey, they came across a pit pony killed in the explosion and carved meat from its rotting corpse and continued on. It is unknown how many could have been rescued if efforts had not been halted.

A second part will be posted in May 2024.

Soldiers of the Engineers preparing the respiratory apparatus taken March 12, 1906
[Courrières disaster, 12 March 1906]: [press photograph] / [Agence Rol] courtesy Bibliothèque nationale de France

A group of rescuers at the ascent of the shaft
[Courrières disaster, 12 March 1906]: [press photograph] / [Agence Rol] courtesy Bibliothèque nationale de France

Advertisement for a play about the disaster. Nov/Dec 2006
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5466118h

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