Easington Pit Inquiry Ordered

Mr. Shinwell's Appeal For Fund

The Ministry of Fuel and Power announced last night that the Minister had directed Sir Andrew Meikle Bryan, Chief Inspector of Mines, to hold a formal investigation into the causes and circumstances of the accident at Easington Colliery, County Durham, on Tuesday. The date and place of the inquiry will be announced later.

Yesterday the bodies of 38 of the 80 victims of an explosion in the pit had been either located or brought to the surface. Henry Burdess, of Brancepeth, County Durham, collapsed and died while helping in the rescue work below ground yesterday. He is the second rescue worker to die.

Miners at the colliery will attend the funeral to-day of the first victims recovered. This will take place in the common burial ground which is being set aside as a memorial sanctuary.

Mr. Shinwell, Minister of Defence, who is M.P. for Easington, broadcast an appeal yesterday for contributions to the fund which has been opened for the relief of distress among the relatives of the men who lost their lives.

A message of sympathy to the relatives has been sent on behalf of the submarine branch of the Royal Navy to the Durham division of the National Coal Board.