Strongman mine families, survivors and rescuers remember 50 years on.
19 men killed in the Strongman mine disaster remembered 50 years on
Families, survivors and rescuers have gathered at the entrance at the Strongman coal mine site to remember the 19 men killed 50 years ago.
About 200 people attended a service at the mouth of the Strongman Mine near Runanga on the West Coast on Saturday.
On January 19, 1967, a methane-gas explosion ripped through the coal mine at Runanga, north of Greymouth.
Thousands of mourners, some from as far away as Auckland and Invercargill, attended the funeral in Greymouth of victims of the Strongman mine disaster. Dated 23 Jan 1967.
Terry Crowley, was 26 when the disaster happened.
He was at home with his six-month-old baby when he got the call that there had been an explosion at the mine. He left the baby with neighbours and drove to the mine entrance.
"I was scheduled to come in on the afternoon shift in the section that exploded so I lost a couple of good mates in the morning shift," he said.
The scene at the entrance to the Strongman State Coal Mine, Greymouth, after the disastrous explosion in which nineteen miners lost their lives. Dated Jan 1967.
Crowley was a member of the rescue team that recovered 17 bodies from the mine.
Equipped with a breathing pack he worked in the hot and gassy mine for 14 hours and brought 15 men to the surface.
The mine was then sealed, and three weeks later two more bodies were brought out. Two men could not be recovered.
About 200 family, friends and colleagues gathered at the Karoro Cemetery to remember 19 men killed at the Strongman coal mine 50 years ago.
Crowley rarely speaks about that day and suffered nightmares after witnessing horrific injuries.
He said he had mixed feelings about being at the disaster site.
"I'm quite uncomfortable being here but to meet mates I'm bloody pleased I am here. I got out of here 40 minutes after the explosion...I picked up a breathing set and with two others joined those already in there. It was just doing the hard yards. Bloody hot and gassy I can tell you. After the 50 years I've lost the timeline a bit but the scenes never. I don't want to go through that again," he said.
Children of some of the 19 men who were killed in the 1967 Strongman mine disaster on the West Coast at the 50th commemoration.
Five of the rescue party were awarded British Empire Medal for their efforts.
READ MORE:
* Raw emotion of 1967 Strongman mine disaster revisited at 50th anniversary
* 50th anniversary of Strongman mine disaster commemorated
* Strongman Mine disaster miner remembers
* Mine disaster doco will be hard to watch
Billy Burke was one of 240 men in the mine when it exploded. So many survived because the explosion was stopped from spreading further than 140m when it hit a wet patch of the tunnel.
Men who worked at Strongman mine before it exploded in 1967 killing 19 men.
At the service, Burke wore the hat he was wearing in the mine when it exploded.
"I never came out of the mine that day. I was amongst the first that went into that section. Once they got the air starting to circulate about 15 of us made the stoppings better so the air circulated further and we got further and further into the mine. That's how we got so many people out the first day because there was the likes of me, and those other guys, they never came out of the mine," he said.
He lost a cousin and an uncle in the explosion.
Surviving members of Mines Rescue who worked on the rescue and recovery operation of the 1967 Strongman mine disaster.
Grey District Mayor Tony Kokshoorn and West Coast MPs Damien O'Connor and Maureen Pugh attended the service.
Brian Coghlan, whose father Laurie was killed in the explosion, helped organise the 50th commemoration.
"We've had our sad moments but it's happy too. There's guys I haven't seen for 40 years. It's great to catch up. It hasn't been entirely sad, there's been a happy tone to it too. There are six widows here and 11 children of the men who died," he said.
Billy Burke who was in the Strongman mine when it exploded in 1967
The commemorations began with a service and a minute of silence at 10.04am on Thursday, the time of the explosion.
There was a function at the Runanga Workingmen's Club on Friday night and Saturday's mine site service was followed by a community day at the club including coal shoveling and wood chopping competitions. The anniversary would close with a dinner and music at the club on Saturday night.
The 19 men killed were: Edward Bourke, 63; Lawrence Coglan, 38; Russell Cust, 30; William Thomas Foster-Lynam, 28; Jack Johns, 39; Geroge Kinsey, 57; Harry Van Looey, 36; Hector Mc Kenzie, 26; Robert Maughan, 22; Kenneth Moore, 45; Kenneth Mountford, 42; Eric Newcombe, 42; Hugh O' Donnell, 29; Noel Prescott, 18; Dudley Robinson, 23; Ernest Smith, 60; Jan Antonio Trukawka, 30; Alfred Watson, 33; and William Williams, 32.
Grey mayor Tony Kokshoorn, West Coast National MP Maureen Pugh and West Coast Labour MP Damien O'Connor at the 50th anniversary of the Strongman mine disaster
The 50th anniversary of the Strongman mine disaster
The Strongman mine
- Stuff
Comments