St. Clair County
Remnants Of The Past

St. Clair County Republican
15 December 1898

Coal Mine Horror

A Terrific Explosion of Coal Dust Occurs at Poteau, I.T.
Five Men Killed, Many Entombed
Little Hope of Rescuing Those in the Mine as It Is on Fire – An Explosion on the Stage – A Natural Gas Explosion.
Poteau, I.T., Dec. 13 – A few minutes after nine o’clock last night, in Mine No. 2 of the Indianola & Rathway Coal company, situated about three miles from this place, a terrific explosion took place. Five men are known to have lost their lives from the immediate effects and about 23 more are buried in the shaft. The explosion was caused by the ignition of coal dust after a blast had been fired. It was something terrific and was very plainly heard in this lace. The timber work of the hoist was blown far into the air and the shattered remains immediately caught fire. Over a hundred men were at work in the mine at the time of the explosion, and only about one-half of these have been accounted for. Those who escaped were employed in another part of the mine. There seems to be little hope of rescuing the entombed miners, as the explosion literally rent the subways asunder, and there are hundreds of tons of earth to be taken away before they can be reached.
A hundred men are working valiantly to rescue their comrades. They are driven away at times because of the intense heat of the burning structure. It is probable that the interior of the mine is also burning, although at the present time this cannot be determined. It is also impossible to ascertain the names of those who have been killed and are buried in the mine. The fire lights up the country for miles around and there are thousands of people arriving on the scene.
This is the second time within three weeks that an explosion has occurred in this mine, tow men having been killed in the previous one.