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Full Details

Surname
HOWELLS
Forename
Evan
Day
09
Month
08
Year
1907
Age
39
Occupation
Fireman
Mine/Quarry Name
Mardy, No.3
Mineral Worked
Coal
Owner
Locket's Merthyr Collieries (1894) Ltd
Location
Maerdy
County
Glamorganshire
Details of Event
Deceased, who was waiting in a lodge at the bottom of No.3 (Upcast) pit, heard some signals from the surface which were not understood by the hitchers. He got into the carriage and ordered the hitchers to signal him to the top. As the cage neared the surface it was stopped by a signal received from the shaft, how or by whom given has not been ascertained. He was held in the shaft near the boxing, which was on fire for a minute or so, when he was brought to bank owing to screams heard by the banksman. He was burnt so badly that be died on the following day. The fire was very sudden and intense, and the knocking heard by deceased was the banksmans warning for all at the shaft bottom to stand clear. The latter should never have allowed a man to be wound through the shaft under the circumstances, but should have written a message on the upper carriage and sent it down. Immediately deceased reached the surface, six of the eight guide rope, followed by the winding rope, fell down the pit. The cause of the fire has not been satisfactorily explained, neither has the signal to stop the carriage.