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Full Details

Surname
POWERS
Forename
Samuel
Day
07
Month
01
Year
1907
Age
29
Occupation
Hewer
Mine/Quarry Name
Dunston Garesfield
Mineral Worked
Coal
Owner
Dunston Garesfield Collieries Ltd
Location
Dunston
County
Durham
Details of Event
Deceased, a son of the master shifter of the colliery, was kyrving at the roadhead in a longwall gateway in a wet working in No.1 district of the Five Quarter seam, which is 2 feet 1 inch thick and is overlaid by 3 or 4 inches of ramble above which is post. The post fell away, without any warning, over an area 12 feet long and 8 to 10 feet wide and covered him almost completely. The fall extended from the coal face outwards right across the road to where the tub was standing. It terminated at a small hitch leader which crossed the road at right angles, and here the stone was 3 feet thick, thinning out to the face and towards the sides. A pair of gears was canted out. The roof was not broken into before the accident as height was made in the gateway by a bottom canch being shot up. The place had been visited by the deputy before work was started, about 1.5 hours before the accident, when it appeared safe. There was a sufficient supply of loose timber. The Local Inspectors reported, ‘In our opinion it was a pure accident.’