| 1962,
4th October
JAMES MCLEAN
7-hour rescue bid fails
Miner dies at Kirkconnel
For fully seven hours on Thursday miners at Fauldhead Colliery, Kirkconnel,
toiled desperately, over 450 feet underground, in a vain bid to rescue
a workmate buried under several tons of stone and rubble.
The victim of the accident was 41-year-old James McLean, of Castle
Avenue, Sanquhar, who leaves a widow and family of two, Robert, aged
14, and Margaret (16).
The fatality occurred in Bennet’s Section of No. 3 Pit and 1
¾ miles from the pit bottom.
McLean, along with other workmen, was engaged in salvage work, recovering
material from the face where coal production had ceased.
They had just gone into their place of work where four steel girders
supporting the roof gave way and McLean was pinned to the ground and
buried under the falling roof.
ESCAPE
His companions who had a miraculous escape, summoned assistance, and
teams of workmen toiled desperately to reach their trapped comrade.
As soon as news reache3d the surface the colliery manager, Mr. Wm.
Murray, and group manager, Mr. Wm. Baillie, went underground to direct
the attempted rescue operation.
It took fully five hours of unceasing effort to locate the unfortunate
workman, who had died instantly, and another two hours to remove the
stone and rubble which had trapped him.
SERIOUSLY INJURED
The fatality occurred at the start of the dayshift, and only a few
hours earlier, during the night shift, another miner, 41-year-old
William Stevenson, of 61 Greenhill Avenue, New Cumnock, sustained
serious injuries after being jammed between hutches in another section
of the same pit.
Stevenson suffered from a suspected fracture of the spine and three
fractured ribs.
After receiving medical attention at the colliery he was conveyed
by ambulance to Ayr County Hospital.
Dumfries & Galloway Standard 06/10/1962 / S / 1 / -
MM57
|
