| Date: | 1917 |
| Colliery: | Easington |
| Cause: | Overcome by gas |
| Lives Lost: | 1 |
At Easington Colliery, Co. Durham, a lad, aged 20, was sent by a deputy to fetch some limbers from a place on a main road. Instead of going to the spot indicated, he made a short cut across some old workings to a "flat" where he had previously worked. He went through two fences and climbed over a fall, and then entered a drift which had been driven to prove a fault. The drift was on the rise and owing to a fall breaking down the air pipes it was full of gas. The lad had reached the face of the drift when he was overcome and expired. The lad failed to carry out his instructions, and chose to travel by another route. He was carrying an electric safety lamp, which gave no indication of the presence of gas. Unfortunately, too, the checking system at the mine failed on this occasion, and the lad was not missed until his relatives made enquiries.
| Source: | 1917 Mines Inspectors Report |
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