Mining disaster in Turkey

A generation has gone by since we last had a pit in the district, but any mention of a mining disaster still brings my head up with a jerk. This one is truly terrible. The pit-head scenes with relatives are always the same. Tears your guts out.

 

Got to agree.........nightmares are made of this

For years I had come to the conclusion that if it needs men to go underground to get the stuff then its not worth going for - no matter what it is.
If it cant be dug out from the surface then leave it where it is.

There should be an international law that outlaws all mining that needs men to go underground.

And I know it might be controversial this but I'm always pleased when I hear that another pit has shut - while pits are open men will be encouraged to go there to get a bit more money, especially if they have a family.

It will be a good day for Britain when the last coal mine pit is shut at Hatfield.

Signed
Ex-miner

 

For anyone who did not work in the mining industry.
An explosion is usually created by a mixture of air and Methane gas, which is ignited by an intense spark or flame. Everything down a coal mine is made flame proof such as electrical switchgear.
In rare cases it can be coal dust that ignites but heavier stone dust is used to drop the dust to ground level out of the air
The problem with an explosion is it uses all the oxygen in the air to expand in size. Therefore after it has seared through the roadways it leaves no oxygen to breathe. The other problem is that the heat intensity and pressure of the explosion will kill persons in that area.
So it should be expected that all the miners in roadways and areas inbye of the explosion will not have survived
When miners get trapped by roof falls in the roadways or flooding it can have survivors as the men can have enough oxygen to survive for a few days.
Unfortunately with explosions it is a different ballpark and I personally would not expect any survivors
Hope this helps the non mining people on here

 

Well explained............but it doesn't bare thinking about............HORRIBLE

I had a chat with a guy some years ago that had been caught up in a mines explosion.

The last thing he remembered was waiting for some tools to be run off the conveyor. So he got in the button hole (manhole at the side of the tunnel) and sat down to have a bit of snap.
He was found about 50m from the manhole badly burnt. But because he was laid unconscious on the floor the gasses from the explosion went over the top of him so he had a thin pocket of air to breath.
That is to say - if he hadn't been knocked out by the explosion and was able to stand up then he would have died through either the gasses caused by the explosion or the lack of oxygen.

Others there at the time weren't that lucky.

 

Yes that guy was very fortunate. I had the privilege of going down to a controlled explosion at Bretby Research Centre. It was created in a tunnel come roadway on the surface. It had pressure readings and temperature recorded. We were About a mile away to view it. They counted down and then said fire. We expected a Big Bang and a ball of flame like a rifle.
What occurred was amazing.
A few seconds passed and then smoke started bellowing out of the tunnel for about 20 seconds. It was then all sucked back into the tunnel, a few seconds passed and the smoke came roaring back out of the tunnel followed by a terrific flame and loud bang. All the cattle around in fields scattered and a claim put in from Farmers for milk production lost next day. The temperature and pressure reading showed that miners would not survive an explosion of that magnitude.
I was then shown a video of a miniature scale model roadway. The gas ran along the roof over the dust barriers and then ignited. This defeated dust barriers which were supposed to shake off and dump dust in the flame to reduce it.
You can therefore see why with all the research it is very unlikely anyone will survive. No oxygen, terrific heat and carbon monoxide fume gasses.
I would mention that British mines were the safest in the world and they spent millions in safety aspects

 

I saw some films from bretby when I did the roadway dust sampling at manvers training centre,one that I saw blew a transformer down the tunnel,i cant remember exactly how far but I think its over 50m probably near on 100m,which considering the weight of a district transformer was unbelievable,whole sections of rings were blown out and rails were ripen from their sleepers.
what was also noticeable was the amount of dust left behind,zero visability,so combine this with no oxygen left,then the Turkish miners will be lucky to survive.
awfull times.

 

my heart goes out to the families of these miners, devastating news

 

I can see what your saying but I don't agree with your point.

Shall we stop building houses because people get killed on building sites every year or close factories because people get killed or badly injured using the heavy machinery?