The Kinross mine disaster (16 September 1986) resulted in the deaths of 177 miners and the injury of 235 others, making it one of the largest mining incidents in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. The disaster occurred at the

Kinross Kinross (, ) is a burgh in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, around south of Perth, Scotland, Perth and around northwest of Edinburgh. It is the traditional county town of the Counties of Scotland, historic county of Kinross-shire. History Kinro ...

gold mine Gold mining is the extraction of gold by mining. Historically, mining gold from alluvial deposits used manual separation processes, such as gold panning. The expansion of gold mining to ores that are not on the surface has led to more comple ...

when welding set alight an

acetylene Acetylene (Chemical nomenclature, systematic name: ethyne) is a chemical compound with the formula and structure . It is a hydrocarbon and the simplest alkyne. This colorless gas is widely used as a fuel and a chemical building block. It is u ...

cylinder. The

tunnel A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...

walls were lined with a

polyurethane Polyurethane (; often abbreviated PUR and PU) is a class of polymers composed of organic chemistry, organic units joined by carbamate (urethane) links. In contrast to other common polymers such as polyethylene and polystyrene, polyurethane term ...

foam coating to prevent water seepage, which caught alight, along with plastic wire coverings, releasing toxic fumes that suffocated the miners. After the disaster, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) complained about low

safety standards Safety standards are standards designed to ensure the safety of products, activities and processes, etc. Additional descriptive terms may help to clarify what hazards are being addressed, such as workplace safety standards (to keep workers safe), ...

in the mines. Workers disrupted a

memorial service A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects such as home ...

sponsored by the mine owners, objecting to the exclusion of miner representatives from the event, and staged a day of protests on 1 October 1986 with workers striking to hold memorial services to mourn those who died in the accident. Other South African mine accidents that killed a large number of people include the 1960

Coalbrook mining disaster The Coalbrook mining disaster is the worst mining accident in the history of South Africa. The disaster occurred in the Coalbrook coal mine of Clydesdale Colliery on 21 January 1960 at around 19:00 when approximately 900 pillars caved in, almos ...

, with 437 fatalities, the Vaal Reefs mining disaster, in 1995, which killed 104 mine workers, and the Trans-Natal Colliery

methane gas Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The abundance of methane on Earth makes ...

explosion An explosion is a rapid expansion in volume of a given amount of matter associated with an extreme outward release of energy, usually with the generation of high temperatures and release of high-pressure gases. Explosions may also be generated ...

, killing 39.

References

{{reflist Mining disasters in South Africa 1986 mining disasters 1986 in South Africa 1986 disasters in South Africa September 1986 in Africa