Tuesday, March 19, 2024

135 years: Remembering a Vancouver Island tragedy that left hundreds dead

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It was an unprecedented tragedy that shook the nation, leaving nearly 50 wives without a husband, hundreds of children without a father, and a Vancouver Island community tangled in grief.

This Tuesday marks 135 years since two explosions occurred 260 metres below sea level in what was known as Nanaimo’s largest mine, No. 1 Esplanade Mine.

The City of Nanaimo says the May 3rd, 1887 blast was so forceful that it rocketed through the underground shafts for almost a kilometre, igniting an underground fire that burned for two weeks.

According to the city, it goes down in history as BC’s worst mining disaster and Canada’s second-worst industrial accident, behind the 1914 mining disaster in Hillcrest, Alberta.

“This tragic accident took the lives of 150 miners, creating a massive impact on a community of approximately only 2,000 people at the time,” the city said.

“Forty-six women lost their husbands, 126 children lost their fathers, and the mine lost 25% of its employees.”

The city recalls a jury blaming the explosion on the firing of an “unprepared and badly planted charge” that ignited accumulated gas fuelled by coal dust.

Officials say the damage was so severe that any remaining bodies weren’t recovered until July, with seven men never found and remaining somewhere beneath the Nanaimo Harbour.

Remembering May 3rd, 1887

All these years later, to honour the fallen miners of No. 1 Esplanade Mine and mark 135 years, Nanaimo Mayor Leonard Krog says city staff will “take a moment” this Tuesday.

The city will also lower all flags at its facilities to half-mast in commemoration.

A memorial plaque still stands in place of the mine site on Milton Street, as the Nanaimo Museum’s walk-through exhibit shines a light on the city’s tragic coal mining past.

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