Seventeen were entombed, and another later died of his injuries. Now, the explosion that transformed a Queensland community has been recreated online.
On Saturday night, Queensland’s mining families were able to see what it was like in the Box Flat mine when an explosion led to the deaths of 18 miners.
Three miners were trying to seal the conveyor roadway in the No.5 tunnel when “an explosive mixture of gases generated from the fire, water gas and coal dust” triggered the massive explosion. The jobs of one in every four families in Ipswich in 1972 – either directly or indirectly – depended on the mines.The remaining workers went to Ipswich City Council, to Moreton Shire Council or to the dozen or so smaller mines who rushed to meet Swanbank’s hunger for coal.
With English mechanical engineer Alan Andrews, Mark Parcell has blended technical mine records and drawings with modern video graphics to recreate the Box Flat mine.“And we can now put you in the mine.”His presentation was the special feature of a 50th anniversary dinner to honour the men who lost their lives and the advances in mine safety since 1972.
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