Zwartberg (Black mountain) is a
parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...
, founded on 3 December 1926 in a district of
Genk
Genk () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality and City status in Belgium, city located in the Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg near Hasselt. The municipality comprises only the town of Genk itself. It ...
in the
Belgian province
Limburg
Limburg or Limbourg may refer to:
Regions
* Limburg (Belgium), a province since 1839 in the Flanders region of Belgium
* Limburg (Netherlands), a province since 1839 in the south of the Netherlands
* Diocese of Limburg, Roman Catholic Diocese in ...
.
Coalmine
Zwartberg was the seat of the nearby coal mine of the same name, until it closed in 1966.
Riots
On Monday, January 31, 1966, a group of
miner
A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face (mining), face; cutt ...
s from Zwartberg went to the mines at
Waterschei to rally their colleagues for a strike against the closing of the mine of Zwartberg. A small group of members of the
Rijkswacht
The (French language, French) or (Dutch language, Dutch) was the former national Gendarmerie force of the Kingdom of Belgium. It became a civilian police organisation in 1992, a status it retained until 1 January 2001, when it was, together ...
(Gendarmerie) was waiting for them when they arrived at the entrance to the Waterschei mine, which was quickly surrounded by the miners. They also stopped a truck, loaded with wood for the mines, and forced the driver to leave his cargo behind.
Armed with blocks of wood and other debris, the miners threw projectiles at the Rijkswacht, who at first responded by firing into the air as a warning. When the rioters refused to back down, the commanding officer ordered his men to open fire on the group, which resulted in the death of Jan Latos by several bullets in his back. Later that day, Valère Sclep died after being hit by a teargas grenade.
News of the tragedy spread rapidly and the government decided to retreat the Rijkswacht officers and replace them with the
Para-commandos. The riots lasted another three days, until an agreement was signed by the management and the unions on 3 February.
References
{{Reflist
Populated places in Limburg (Belgium)
Genk