Last week, four coal miners went to their deaths, overwhelmed by floodwaters three hundred feet underground in the Gleision colliery, South Wales. It was the biggest tragedy of its kind for the Welsh nation (Cymru) in more than two decades – perhaps rendered more tragic since just eight men had been working in the shaft at the time. (According to UK Health and Safety Executive statistics, seven people have been killed in British mining accidents since 2006). The Gleision tragedy could now mark the end of a particularly hazardous type of small-scale coal extraction – one that has been endured for far too long.
See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/11191