EASINGTON

Series

Series Name

Mining Review 4th Year

Issue

Issue No.

11

Date Released

Jul 1951

Stories in this Issue:

1. 1EASINGTON
2. 2WARMING THE POT
3. 3LATE NIGHT FINAL
4. 4FESTIVAL MINER

Story

Story No. within this Issue

1 / 4

Summary

BFI synopsis: disaster at Easington colliery
NCB Commentary - Early on the morning of May 29th, as the shifts were changing over at Easington Colliery, there was a sudden explosion in the Duckbill district of the Five Quarter seam. That was the cold sense of the newpaper flashes.
At once the rescue drill snapped into action. Six minutes later the first rescue teams were arriving from the centre seven miles away. From all over the area, as men were alerted they dropped what they were doing and converged on the stricken pit. Coal board officials and miners’ leaders rushed to Easington. Lord Hyndley, Arthur Horner, Sam Watson, Mr. Shinwell came to give what help they could. Outside the gates the little knots of relatives and workmates grew throughout the day, a day that was going to be long with waiting and hoping.
Neighbouring collieries sent in their contributions - trained men for the rescue work and the gear to equip them. At the surface bases there was ceaseless activity. Breathing gear had to be re-charged and tested as the rescue teams came up form the pit. Men were equipped and outfitted. There wasn’t yet much information on conditions below - that each team would have to find out for itself and for those waiting on the surface.
So down they went, relay after relay of brave, trained men, fired with the urge to clear a way through to their comrades before it was too late.
On the surface there was nothing to do but wait. In the little houses of the colliery village, where they know by now the names of the missing men, they waited and hoped. At the pithead they waited in the emergency ambulance rooms for the casualties that never came. It was hard to bear.
At evening, hope had turned to resignation. With each returning group of rescue men the news was bad: their difficulties were enormous: two of the rescuers themselves had died in the gas that filled the explosion seam. But all through the night and the days that followed the work went on, underground and at the surface where the lights shone through until dawn.
The toll - 81 men. But life will go on at Easington, and those who are bereaved will need help. At Easington a Disaster Fund has been opened. It will need all that people can give.

Keywords

Death; Mining; Emergency services; Accidents and disasters

Locations

England; County Durham; Easington

Written sources

British Film Institute Databases   Used for synopsis
The National Archives COAL 32   /3 Scripts for Mining Review, 1949-1956

Credits:

Production Co.

Documentary Technicians Alliance

Sponsor

National Coal Board