New Documentary : West Frankfort Mine Disaster

Independent producer/reporter Chris Yoars has just completed a 16 minute piece on the West Frankfort Mine Disaster.

You may listen to the documentary by clicking here.

Life magazine image: Rescue workers watch silently as a
corpse comes up the shaft that had to be carried two
miles underground through debris - December, 1951.

Here's the description:

"This documentary tells the story of the 1951 West Frankfort Mine disaster in which 119 men were killed in an explosion on the last shift before the Christmas holiday. On the evening of December 21st, 1951, citizens of West Frankfort, Illinois were shocked when the word 'explosion' echoed through the streets of their humble mining community. Just hours before West Frankfort’s Orient #2 mine was to close for the Christmas holiday, an underground blast killed 119 mineworkers during the second shift.

Over the next few days the blackened and charred bodies of miners were carried up from the depths of the mine and moved to the West Frankfort Jr. High School gym floor for identification.

The explosion garnered national attention and resulted in the passage of the Federal Coal Mine Safety Act of 1952. The West Frankfort disaster is the worst of its kind since 1940, leaving 111 widows and 176 fatherless children in its wake. Those who died at the Orient #2 Mine are still remembered by the town of West Frankfort."

Thanks to Chris for sharing this impressive doc.