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Full Details

Surname
PEARSON
Forename
William
Day
17
Month
06
Year
1932
Age
29
Occupation
Stone Miner
Mine/Quarry Name
Dean, No.3 Pit
Mineral Worked
Coal
Owner
Kingseat Co. Ltd
Location
Kingseat
County
Fifeshire
Details of Event
17 June 1932: Fatal Pit Accident - Fife Man Killed and Another Seriously Injured - One man was killed and another seriously injured in a shot-firing accident yesterday in No. 3 Pit, Dean Colliery, Kingseat, near Dunfermline. The men, William Pearson (29), stone miner, Henderson Street, Kingseat; and Sinclair Sutherland (20), drawer, 25 Mayflower Street, Townhill, were engaged in driving a stone mine through a "hitch" in order to get to the coal. Eight shots had been set, and it is presumed that the men had been caught by the explosion. Pearson was killed instantaneously, having received a fracture of the base of the skull. Sutherland was removed to the Dunfermline and West Fife Hospital suffering from a wound on the right thigh, severe bruises, and haemorrhage. His condition is regarded as critical. [Scotsman 18 June 1932] On June 17, at Dean Colliery, Fifeshire, a stone miner was found dead and his assistant seriously injured, 1½ hours after a round of eight shots had been fired by detonator and fuse in the face of a level cross-measure drift. The place was very wet and it would appear there had been some delay in lighting one or more of the fuses and the men did not give themselves time to reach a place of safety. [From Inspector of Mines Report for 1932]