Existing comment:
A Moment Etched in Our Nation's History:
According to some accounts, the explosion was heard eight miles away and was so powerful, it shook town buildings, knocked over pedestrians and horses and left a residue of soot throughout the town. The mine was devastated from the massive explosion which obstructed the main entrance of No. 6. Above ground, the wreckage from two strings of ore cars and two electric dynamo motors blocked the main opening. The morning explosion destroyed the mine's ventilation system and trapped deadly gasses beneath the ground which hindered the rescue recovery and doomed survivors of the initial blast. Without gas masks, the rescuers could work only 15 minutes at a time before resurfacing and many ended up requiring medical treatment.
Persistent fires in mines Nos. 6 and 8 stalled rescue attempts and led to the gruesome sight of bodies brought to the surface mangled and burned. A temporary morgue was set up in a bank building that was under construction and caskets lined the city streets. This was devastating to the hundreds of family, friends and onlookers who watched body after body being removed from the mines.
Five railroad carloads of coffins arrived in Monongah the day after the explosion. They were not enough. As the retrieval of bodies progressed, a morgue was set up in the new and unfinished bank building. Six undertakers with squads of assistants performed their grim tasks nonstop. Scores upon scores of bodies were then lined up in open coffins on Monongah's Main Street.
There are several theories as to the actual cause of the explosion though the predominant belief is that the origin was the ignition of "black damp," commonly known as methane. This in turn ignited highly flammable coal dust that is present in all West Virginia bituminous coal mines. It is not certain what ignited the methane although two possibilities are an open lamp or a bad dynamite blast may have instigated the combustion. |