1866: Oaks Colliery Explosion in Barnsley, West Riding of Yorkshire, United Kingdom. Caused by the explosion of firedamp. It was the worst mining accident in England, with a death toll of 361. February 16, 1883: Diamond Mine Disaster in Diamond, Illinois, United States. 74 people died, including 6 children. March 10, 1906: Courrières mine disaster, Courrières, France. 1,099 people died, including children, in the worst mine accident in Europe. December 6, 1907: Monongah mining disaster, Monongah, West Virginia. 362 people officially died. The worst industrial accident in American history. October 14, 1913: Senghenydd Colliery Disaster, Senghenydd, Wales. The worst mining accident in the United Kingdom. 439 workers died. June 19, 1914: Hillcrest mine disaster, Hillcrest, Alberta, Canada. 189 workers died due to an explosion within the mine or from exposure to toxic fumes as a result of the same. December 15, 1914: The Mitsubishi Hōjō mine disaster, Kyushu, Japan. A gas explosion at the Hōjō (Hojyo) coal mine killed 687. It was the worst mining accident in Japan. September 10, 1918: Protection Island mining disaster. Hoisting cable frayed causing an elevator car carrying miners to plunge 300 feet causing the death of 16 miners on Protection Island near Nanaimo British Columbia, Canada April 27, 1922: Lupeni mine disaster. A methane explosion occurred at the Aurelia Mine in Lupeni, Romania, killing 82 miners, and leaving 62 widows and 124 orphans. April 26, 1942: Benxihu Colliery disaster, Benxi, Liaoning Province, in the Imperial Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. 1,549 workers died, making this the worst coal mine accident ever in the world. August 8, 1956: Marcinelle mining disaster. An underground fire killed 262 workers, most of whom were Italian immigrants, in the Belgian town of Marcinelle. October 23, 1958: Springhill mining disaster, Springhill, Nova Scotia, Canada. A "bump," or underground earthquake caused by a collapse, killed 75 miners. The other 99 miners were rescued by a recovery effort. Previous disasters had occurred at the same mine in 1891 and 1956. January 21, 1960: Coalbrook mining disaster at the Clydesdale Colliery near Sasolburg, Orange Free State, South Africa. 435 miners died. It was the worst mining accident in South Africa. May 9, 1960: Laobaidong mining disaster. A methane gas explosion in the Laobaidong coal mine at Datong in the Shanxi province of China killed 684. November 9, 1963: Mitsui Miike Coal Mine disaster. An explosion caused by the ignition of coal dust at