South Yorkshire Times, January 16th, 1960
Crushed By Stone
Denaby Miner Killed While Making Roof Safe
As 50-years-old miner, Edward Sands, was clearing loose stones from a tunnel roof in the Parkgate seam at Denaby Main colliery a workmate asked him if was “safe to come through,” Sands replied: “Wait a minute. You will be allright when I get this stone out.”
Last Words
A Conisbrough inquest heard on Monday how those were the last words Sands ever spoke. A few seconds after the conversation there was a fall and a five-foot long piece of stone, weighing two tons, crashed down on him.
The jury returned a verdict of accidental death on Sands of Braithwell Street, Denaby, who was fatally injured at the pit on Friday morning. Harry Marshall ripper, of Balby Street, Denaby, said he was working with Sands in the C12 belt gate. Witness said he had examined the roof and it was well supported. At about 1.20am the shot-firer began preparing five shots for firing. After the shots were fired, they received instructions from the shot-firer and started to block the newly exposed roof. Witness said: “Sands started his job and after a few minutes I asked him if was “safe to come through.” He shouted back “Wait a minute, I’ll just get this piece of stone out and then you will be allright.”
“Loud Crack”
Marshall added: I heard a loud crack and the roof fell in. Witness said he climbed over the fallen stone to try to release Sands who was trapped.
Coroner: Was it a good roof?
Witness: Yes, sir, very good.
Coroner: Do you think the supports collapsed?
Witness: No sir.
Marshall said when the shots were fired he was about 80 yards away. The shot-holes, he said, were close to where the fall occurred. In reply to Mr. W. Gibson N.U.M. Branch Secretary, Marshall said four supports – two cocking bars and two supports over the belt – were set before the shots were fired. Thomas Henry Sewell of Braithwell Street, a shot-firer, said he examined the supports and they were in order. Sands was pinned by a piece of stone weighing about two tons. There was another fall and Sands was buried completely. Witness agreed with the coroner (Mr. W. H. Carlile) that the shot-firing could have been responsible for movement in the roof. He added that the roof was a good rock roof and there were no signs of weakness. The supports, he said, were tight and safe. Sewell said that he and the workmen were quite satisfied with the timber.
Chest Crushed
Dr. H Lederer, pathologist, said Sands had multiple crush injuries. Death was due to fractures of the chest wall. Edward Brown, a deputy, said that 20 to 25 mins before the shots were fired there was some ‘flashing’ (sharp cracks at regular intervals). Brown said that when the first fall occurred, he was standing only a few feet from Sands. “We rushed out of the way and I think Sands tried to escape, but he did not stand a chance.”
Replying to a question from an Inspector of Mines, Brown said that after the first ‘flushing’ he had tested the roof and could not find anything wrong. He was quite sure that Sands was quite safe working where he was. The coroner said “Both the shot-firer and the deputy were satisfied with the condition of the roof, there is no evidence of negligence.” The question of a different kind of support, would, Mr. Carlile said, be a matter for the authorities concerned.