Brunner Mine disaster (original) (raw)

The Brunner Mine disaster happened at 9:30 am on Thursday 26 March 1896 (NZMT; UTC+11:30), when an explosion deep in the Brunner Mine, in the West Coast region of New Zealand, killed all 65 miners below ground. The Brunner Mine disaster is the deadliest mining disaster in New Zealand’s history. The royal commission of inquiry put the cause of the disaster to a blown-out shot in a part of the mine where miners should not have been working. However, experienced miners claimed the explosion was caused by firedamp igniting, which had accumulated in the mine due to inadequate ventilation.