McIntyre, PA Kent Coal Mine Explosion, Jun 1941

14 ARE TRAPPED IN M'INTYRE MINE

Twenty Are Rescued From Kent No. Two

Others, Unreached, Said Three Miles From Opening

Twenty men were more or less seriously burned and otherwise injured in a dust explosion in Kent Mine No. 2 mine of the Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal Company at McIntyre, about 10:30 a. m. today. It is feared some of them will die.

Officials of the company estimated that at least 14 others were trapped about three miles from the opening and their fate has not yet been learned, but many are feared to be dead.

14 of the 20 burned and injured were brought to the Indiana Hospital. The others were treated at the mine mouth by a corps of physicians and nurses.

First aid crews from the McIntyre community have entered the mine and similar crews have been summoned from Lucerne and Ernest. The First Aid crew of the Indiana Fire Department is also on the scene. Ambulances from the Robinson, Streams, Bell and Leydic Funeral Homes were rushed to McIntyre following word of the accident.

The explosion occurred at 7 right heading, three north. The cause of the explosion has not yet been determined. ANDY TOTH, a motorman, was a mile away when the explosion occurred and was almost blown off his feet by the blast of air.

The fourteen burned and injured and workers in other parts of the mine had to walk out in total darkness.

R. E. PENFIELD, chief clerk of the production department, said the men in the mine had not been determined but none was reported dead.
PENFIELD said that blast shook loose very little debris and that none of the passageways was blocked. He added:
“The fans are working and air is flowing through the mine.”

The U. S. Bureau of Mines in Pittsburgh dispatched a rescue truck and seven men to the scene.

The blast occurred near the area where a cave-in trapped five men last New Year's Eve. They were rescued 18 hours later after they had written farewell notes to their families.

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