1-158-973 - Oxford Science Archive/Heritage Images

Coal mining disaster, Oaks Colliery, Barnsley, Yorkshire, December 1866. 350 people were killed in the disaster including a number who perished in the second and third explosions while they were searching for survivors and bodies. This pithead scene shows debris being blasted out of the pitshaft by the second explosion, to the dismay of a crowd of coal miners and relatives hoping for news of their colleagues and loved ones. From The Illustrated London News. (London, 22 December 1866).