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Full Details

Surname
McCOURT
Forename
Joseph
Day
28
Month
11
Year
1902
Age
26
Occupation
Screener
Mine/Quarry Name
Washington
Mineral Worked
Coal
Owner
Washington Coal Co. Ltd
Location
Washington
County
Durham
Details of Event
Died 6th December. A small stationary engine by means of a rope is used move trucks on the colliery siding near the screens. To get a lead on the East line of rails the rope was placed over a guiding sheave and in such a position that when tightened up it had to cross the top of a pit staple covered with a wood framing which projected a few inches above the ground. The staple was 14 feet deep and 4.5feet in diameter and there was 14 feet of water in it. When the rope tightened up it caught the wood frame and pulled it off the staple top an about 3.30am deceased fell into the staple. He was got out at once but inflammation of the lungs set in and he died a week after the accident.