Disasters - Names		Disasters - Names

Date:	24th August 1906
Colliery:	Murton
Cause:	(See description below)
Lives Lost:	1

An accident occurred on August 24th at Murton Colliery, belonging to Messrs. The South Hetton Coal Co., Limited, which caused the death of a boy who was being taught to drive. The accident occurred during the third day he was at work underground ; he had previously been working on the screen belts on the surface. He had expressed a desire to work underground and was put in the care of a driver who was told to teach him to look after himself and to drive. The rolleywayman had told the boy that he was to walk by the side of the tubs and take notice of what was done. Unfortunately he was too anxious to get on, and the driver appointed to teach him allowed him to ride on the limbers, whilst he himself rode in the first tub of the set. The boy in the tub noticed that the new boy had his hand on the front edge of the tub and told him he must not put it there as he might get it hurt. The boy on the limbers then took it off the tub, but put up his head and it caught against a baulk, and he was seriously injured and died two days afterwards in the Sunderland Infirmary.

I am glad to say that accidents to boys going down the pit for the first time do not frequently happen. The boys are well able to take care of themselves, having, in most cases, previously been employed on the surface, and so having had some experience of tubs moving and colliery work generally. The driver who was commissioned to teach the boy his work in this instance was given a good character as a steady and careful driver, and I think the accident may have been due to the natural anxiety of the new boy to show that he was learning his duties quickly and properly.

Source:

1906 Mines Inspectors Report (Cd 3449)

	Lutz, Robert, aged 14, Learning to drive, Contrary to orders, he was riding on the limbers. His head was crushed by the fore-end of the first tub of the set against the roof., Buried: Holy Trinity Churchyard, Murton
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