funerals were a focus for the anger of the mining communities against the companies which owned the concessions, and the first strikes started the next day in the Courrières area, extending quickly to other areas in the départements of the Pas-de-Calais and the Nord. The slow progress of the rescue exacerbated the tensions between the mining communities and the companies. By 1 April only 194 bodies had been brought to the surface. There were many accusations that the Compagnie des mines de Courrières was deliberately delaying the reopening of blocked shafts to prevent coalface fires (and hence to save the coal seams): more recent studies tend to consider such claims as exaggerated. The mine was unusually complex for its time, with the different pitheads being interconnected by underground galleries on multiple levels. Such complexity was intended to facilitate access for rescuers in the case of an accident—it also helped the coal to be brought to the surface—but it contributed to the large loss of life by allowing the dust explosion to travel further and then by increasing the debris which had to be cleared by the rescuers. About 110 km (70 mi) of tunnel are believed to have been affected by the explosion. Gérard Dumont of the Centre historique minier de Lewarde has shown that the plans of the mine existing at the time of the accident were difficult to interpret: some measured the depth of galleries by reference to the minehead, others by reference to sea level. Survivors About 500 miners were able to reach the surface during the hours immediately after the explosion. Many were severely burned and suffering from the effects of mine gases. A group of thirteen survivors, known later as the rescapés, was found by rescuers on 30 March, twenty days after the explosion. They had survived at first by eating bark from the crossbeams, later by eating a rotting mine horse. They avoided dehydration by drinking the water dripping from the walls. The two eldest (39 and 40 years old) were awarded the Légion d'honneur, the other eleven (including three younger than 18 years of age) received the Médaille d'or du courage. A final survivor was found on 4 April. Public response The disaster at the Courrières mine was one of the first in France to be reported on a large scale by the media of the day. The Law on the Freedom of