Hope Abandoned for Miners Following Explosion in Alabama, Dec. 11, 1925

All Hope Abandoned for Men Trapped in Mine by Explosion. . . It is Known Now That Half of the Men in the Mine Lost Their Lives Following the Explosion. . . Rescue Efforts Are Continued. . . More than Two Scores of the Bodies Carried to the Surface During Night of Hard Labor

Birmingham, Ala., Dec. 11 (AP)—Forty-eight bodies had today been removed from the Overton Mine No. 2 which yesterday was rocked by an explosion of gas that trapped and brought death to more than half the workers in the pit.

All hope had been abandoned that the remainder of the men would be found alive.

Rescue crews worked patiently through the night but progress was retarded by adverse conditions within the pit. Fire, gas and debris met the workers at every turn. The fire was not of a dangerous character, however, and the gaseous condition lightened toward daybreak. It was expected the last body will be removed before nightfall. Mine officials believe the death list will not pass 53.

Wearied watchers kept vigil about the pit’s mouth through a night of sorrow for the little community. The color line was obliterated, whites and negroes were united in a common grief, and each tried to assuage the other’s loss.

Rain began falling at daybreak, but women hoping against hope to find their loved ones yet alive never budged from their stand at the guard lines. As the morning wore on, the sun came peeping through the clouds, but it brought no ray of hope to the silent throng of watchers. The stretcher bearers told the story as they emerged now and then.

One little woman who heard the blast yesterday while she was about her household duties and knew its meaning, has never for a moment left the mouth of the pit. She hugged her baby to her bosom through the night to protect it from the cold.

Surrounding miners had ceased operations to give what relief they might. It was community mourning. The coroner announced that the bodies would be removed from the temporary morgue in a company bath house to Burmingham during the day.

With a death list of 53, definitely determined, rescue workers were today making final efforts to remove three bodies remaining in Overton Mine No. 2, which was partly wrecked by an explosion of gas yesterday morning. The bodies are those of two white men and one negro miner. the bodies of the white men are pinned beneath a bolder. Of those already removed,43 are negroes and 7 are white.

From the front page of the Concord Daily Tribune, Friday, Dec. 11, 1925

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