The collapse of the main shaft of the Hartley Colliery on the Northumberland coast in north-east England had blocked all routes to the surface eight days before. Rescue diggers finally cleared the blockage but found the 199 men and boys all dead from slow gas poisoning. Most had survived uninjured for several days. Five more had died immediately in the initial accident for a total of 204 deaths that devastated the three small villages that surrounded the colliery. (By John Osborne)
Source Citation
Chronicle, The Annual Register or a View of the History and Politics of the Year 1862 (London: F. & J. Rivington, 1863), 13-14.
Record Data
Date Certainty
Exact
Type
Crime/Disasters
