Bentinck Colliery Disaster. Coroner's Inquest, 1st July 1915

“THE KIRKBY COLLIERY DISASTER.

“OPENING OF THE INQUEST.

“This afternoon [1st July 1915] Mr. D. Whittingham, District Coroner, opened the inquest into the circumstances attending the death of the victims of the Bentinck Colliery disaster at Kirkby.

“The proceedings were brief, only evidence of identification being called, and the inquiry was adjourned.

“The body of the tenth man killed in the accident, had not been identified up to this afternoon.

“Our Hucknall correspondent, describing the scene at the bottom of the shaft immediately after the accident, says that the thoughts of the workmen down below naturally wandered to their comrades who were suspended in mid-air — alive or dead, they knew not which.

“The manager was at the bottom of the shaft as early as possible, and was much moved by the array of mangled bodies. As for those in the shaft, a voice rang out from the bottom, “Are any of you alive in the cage?” That voice was heard, and a reply was made and just heard by the deputies who were at the mouth of the deep soft seam, above which the collision occurred. The reply was to the effect that they wanted help.

“This somewhat hazardous task was accomplished with a good deal of nerve, and the men who had been imprisoned for two hours, suffering excruciating pain, coupled with mental anguish, and not knowing how soon their fate would sealed, were rescued, and conveyed to their homes or to the hospital.

“The only theory be adduced as to the cause of the mishap was that, possibly there was some oscillation of the cages, with the result that they became interlocked, then jammed, and thus by the force of power the destruction was wrought.”

'Nottingham Evening Post', 1st July 1915.

Image: http://www.healeyhero.co.uk/rescue/Collection/shane/bentick.htm