Mine Disaster

Front page of The Wheeling Intelligenger, April 29, 1924.

On Monday, April 28, 1924 the Benwood Mine of Wheeling Steel & Iron Corporation’s Benwood Works exploded. Some people felt the blast three blocks away and witnesses say white smoke and a “sheet of flame” shot from the entrance to the mine. All 119 coal miners who were working inside the mine were killed. It remains the third worst mine disaster in West Virginia history.

There were two explosions in rapid succession that morning. The first occurred in a pocket of methane gas at approximately 7:05 AM – about 25 minutes after the men had entered the mine to start their shift. The second explosion, as the result of trapped coal dust being ignited by a rail spark, lighted match, lantern flame or other source.

The second explosion pushed a wall of fire through the shafts of the mine, shattering the support timbers. The resulting roof collapses crushed many of the miners with falling rock and debris, with some others being burned to death by the intense flames. But most were probably killed by “afterdamp,” a deadly mixture of toxic gases caused by the fire.

A group of rescuers going into the mine.

A victim is removed from the mine air shaft at Browns Run.

Of the 119 victims, 110 were European immigrants from Poland, Italy, Greece, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Slovenia, Slovakia, England, Scotland and Wales. They immigrated to the United States of America during the Third Wave of Immigration approximately between 1880 and 1914. They settled in the mill town of Benwood and the surrounding areas because of abundant industrial and manufacturing job opportunities.

The victims were predominantly of the Roman Catholic faith and parishioners of Saint John Parish in Benwood and the former Saint Ladislaus Parish in South Wheeling.

For almost 90 years, there had never been a memorial for the victims. To rectify this, the Benwood Mine Disaster Memorial Committee was formed.

From 2011 to 2014, the committee raised funds for a permanent memorial. It was formally dedicated on Sept. 27, 2014. A memorial for the five victims of the Hitchman Mine Disaster, which occurred in Benwood on May 18, 1942, was also dedicated that day.