TERRIBLE DISASTER IN A MINE IN THE RUHR

BERLIN, February 12. A very strong explosion of firedamp occurred yesterday evening at 8:10 p.m. in shaft N C 3 of the "Minister Stein" mine, situated north of Dortmund.
This mine belongs to the Gelsenkircken company: 143 miners were in the mine at the time of the explosion, which was extremely violent. Three galleries inside the mine collapsed. The explosion occurred near the ventilation shaft, which was blocked by the collapse, which had the effect of forcing the gases back into the mine. Finding no way out, most of the miners died of asphyxiation.

A statement from the Mines Directorate
The Mines Directorate announced at 1 p.m. that the presumed number of victims of the Dortmund disaster was 138.
129 bodies had been removed from the mine by 7 p.m. Two nurses who were involved in the rescue were asphyxiated.
The majority of the bodies removed showed signs of asphyxiation.
A large number of rescue teams had set to work immediately after the explosion, but the rescue work was made almost impossible at first, as all the exits from the mine were blocked by landslides, and gas fumes prevented the rescue teams from entering the mine.

When an exit was found, several people from the rescue teams were poisoned by the gas and had to be pulled up by their comrades. It was not until the morning that the first bodies could be removed from the mine.

Eight miners pulled out alive

Only eight miners could be pulled out alive.
Several of the bodies were so charred that identification was impossible.
In front of the mine gate were the families of the miners belonging to the teams surprised by the explosion. Heartbreaking scenes took place. Numerous police reinforcements were forced to stand guard near the mine gate.
The latest news shows that at various points in the mine, groups of miners survived the explosion for several hours. The rescuers found an inscription, written in chalk, saying "We are 19, still alive at 1 a.m." One of the bodies had this inscription on his cap, also written in chalk:

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