Today in history: 262 Coal miners, including a substantial number of Italian migrant workers, were killed in mining accidents in Belgium.

 

On 8 August 1956, tragedy struck the coal mining town of Marcinelle, near Charleroi in Belgium, when a fire broke out deep inside the Bois du Cazier coal mine. The disaster began when an underground elevator cage carrying a large tub of coal collided with a cart that had been left sticking out from a loading platform. The collision damaged vital cables and oil pipes, sparking a blaze that quickly filled the mine shafts with thick, toxic smoke. The suffocating fumes spread rapidly through the tunnels, trapping hundreds of miners more than 1,000 meters below the surface. Despite frantic rescue efforts, the conditions underground became unbearable, and the fire made it nearly impossible to reach the men in time.

The disaster claimed the lives of 262 miners from 12 different nationalities, with a particularly devastating impact on Italy, as 136 of the victims were Italian migrant workers who had come to Belgium under a labor exchange agreement. The incident shocked the world and exposed the dangerous conditions in European coal mines during the mid-20th century. It sparked public outrage, leading to new safety regulations and better working conditions in the mining industry. For Italy, it was a moment of national mourning, strengthening calls for greater protection of migrant workers abroad. The Marcinelle mining disaster remains one of the deadliest industrial accidents in Belgian history and is still commemorated annually as a somber reminder of the human cost of industrial labor.

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