The Gleision Mine Disaster Week In Week Out

A second miner has been found, and tragically he was also deceased.

Like a train coming down the passage way with a four-foot wall

of water coming down it. It must have been horrendous. We would have

moved this mountain to get those people back. I was ready for home

after 36 hours, my energy sank. The Swansea Valley, steeped in

mining tradition, they have had coal out of the ground here for

generations. Once the industry provided work for thousands. Today

just a handful still toil underground. And last Thursday

Wales was reminded of the awful toll the industry has taken over

the years. The alarm was raised at 9.30 on Thursday morning, after an

hour massive operation was under way. It is a very dynamic rescue

situation. The situation is changing on a regular basis.

Tonight, those at the centre of the rescue effort, recount for the

first time what it was like as events unfolded. The officer in

charge of a major incident like this is called Gold Commander.

is unusual call, it is a call that we, certainly in my time, have not

had, I felt there was something about T I spoke to one of my

commanders, and at that time, it was then declared a critical

incident. Because we had established that there were still

miners unaccounted for. At first seven men are reported

trapped, then it is clear three have escaped. The miners are

located approximately 0ms underground. They are down a 250m

main route into the mine, and at the end of that mine, it

essentially turns left and then off that little mine shaft there are

numerous little tunnels, et cetera, old workings, which all potentially

have air pockets in. Mines rescue from nearby are sent

to the scene, their job to get the miners out alive. The first thing

we knew that at the bottom of the mine drift was flooded, there was

no access. From witnesses we heard that the mine manager got out

through an old workings. That is Malcolm Fifield? Yes. I quickly

deployed a team into that Broadway, to explore to see if somebody had

followed him out and it may have collapsed on the way out. They got

three quarters of the way in and the oxygen levels were very low,

which forced the teams back. I redeployed the teams using

breathing apparatus. Malcolm Fifield is airlifted to Morriston

Hospital in Swansea, the other two help the rescue effort, telling

them what's happened and how they managed to escape.

We wickly determined that two miners had left - quickly

determined that two miners had left via the main access shaft, a 250m

shaft, and there was a body of water at the bottom of that shaft.

We also knew that a third miner had escaped via the old workings,

through a route that actually wasn't shown on the plans. We also

ascertained a what the water level within the mine would be. Any

potential areas where miners could be located, and have an air supply.

By mid-afternoon on Thursday, the severity of the accident becomes

all too clear. Having talked to the police chander and also the rescue

services - commander and also the rescue services, I'm satisfied

everything is being done to rescue those men. It is a serious, grim

situation. Late afternoon and more details begin to emerge. The

accident appears to have happened after water gushed into Gleishion

colliery, possibly from an old neighbouring mine works. The divers

were able to report that there was no roof collapse, there was no

damage to the actual passageway, just blockages caused by timbers

and debris that had washed in with the inrush of water. Which was like

a train coming down passage way with a four-foot wall of water in

front of it. It must have been horrendous.

Gleishion Drift Mine is on the banks of the River Tawe in

Cilybebyll. It's dug into the side of a hill. The men were after

highly-priced antrocyte coal, working in a Warren of tunnels,

some of them very old. It wouldn't be unusual walking in the main

tunnels and touching the walls on either sides and duck down to walk

in. In the working places you may have reasonable heights to work in,

five or six feet, perhaps more, in other places you may be working in

two foot, less than a metre, that would be like working under your

kitchen able all day. 60 years ago there were 50 small mines like

Gleishion, scattered across Wales. By the time of the miners' strike

in 1984, there were about 80. Today only one or two this small are in

operation. You need to be ware of what is going on around you, you

need to listen to hear the ground moving, you need to smell, because

certain gases would give off an odour, you also need to see things,

is the roof picking, is there bits falling from the roof. Water coming

in. You would need especially to be aware of that. You may be in a wet

mine. Gleishion is described as a wet mine. Requiring constant

pumping out of water. Experts say it is familiar problem. The mine

was working in a stick seam, within the seam there was old workings

filled with water. Something happened in the cold workings which

caused the old workings to be breached. In 1973, seven miners

were trapped underground at the lot of house collie in west York shirk

after a - Lofthouse Colliery in West Yorkshire after a sudden

inrush of water. All of the men perished, only one body was

recovered. It led to new recommendations, records to

establish any potential hazards underground. If indeed you are in a

mine and working in a seam, and you know there are some old workings

which are filled with water, you have to take precautions according

to the act, there is a Code of Practise that is clear. You are not

allowed, within the same seam, to work within 37ms.

It is the job of the mines' inspectorate to establish if a

breach of these regulations led to the flooding of Gleishion collie on

the morning of Thursday - gleerb colliery on the morning of -

Gleision Colliery in the morning of the accident. The men were down

there doing the job they were doing. Would that involve blasting? Day-

to-day they do use explosives in the mine. It is a thin seam, it is

a very professional form of mining, they use the explosives to fire the

coal off the solid, and shoes shuffles to fill it into a conveyor,

- shovels to fill it into the conveyor and it is brought to the

surface on that, you can see it mind me.

Thursday afternoon, and families and friend begin to gather in

nearby Rhos Community Centre, anxious for news.

By now, it is obvious the rescue operation won't be over quickly,

and the eyes of the country, and the world, are on a small village

in South Wales. My thoughts and prayers are with those who are at

the moment trapped in the mine in the Swansea Valley, and indeed,

with their families. The emergency services say, they are still

hopeful of a positive outcome. There are numerous little tunnels,

et cetera, old workings, which all potentially have air pockets in.

They are experienced miners, they know the layout of the mine, they

would know where to go in this sort of situation.

We requested additional cave rescue team to go in, when we committed a

cave and rescue team to go through the water, through zero visibility

and debris, we also had a cave rescue team on standby to rescue

the rescuer should they get into trouble.

Emergency teams believe they have located the miners now, trapped

90ms underground, but there is still no communication with them.

Prime Minister David Cameron says every support will be given to the

emergency services. The families will spend two days waiting for

news in the community centre. Superintendant Phil Davies has the

job of keeping them informed. Extremely anxious, obviously very

upset. I think that I was impressed with the way they conducted

themselves in what was a very much pressure cooker situation, where

they were just anxiously waiting for further news. I think, again,

coming from mining communities, and mining families, they understood

the dangers involved in mining, and certainly some of the men, who were

at the community centre, had actually been down the mine, and

had good knowledge of what the conditions were down the mine,

which they were obviously relaying that to other family members.

The missing men are named by police. Charles Bresnan, aged 62, David

Powell who is 50, 45-year-old Phillip Hill and Garry Jenkins,

aged 39. The rescue teams are working shifts,

searching through the night, but there is concern about fatigue.

There was a passion and determination, you also have to

look at the safety. As people were getting more tired, we needed to

make sure, and there was a specific discussion at Gold, were we happy

that our resources weren't getting tired and would not be making

mistakes. Deciding that safety wouldn't be

compromised, officers allowed the rescue effort to continue

throughout the night. Coal has been mined at the site of Gleision for

more than a century, today it is owned by MNS Mining, run by Maria

Seage, a business woman from Port Talbot, and Gerry Ward. The mine

was previously owned by Coal Direct, that company went into liquidation

in August last year. South Wales is peppered with small mines like

Gleision, they open and close according to the price of coal.

the price of energy rises, so the price of coal is following it up.

And therefore, the proceeds that mine owners can get goes up. That

makes it much more economical now to reopen mines and start new mines.

The Coal Authority issued a license to Gleision, it said the owners had

the necessary finance to run the mine. And the Health and Safety

Executive said it inspected the mine last year, and said no

enforcement action was necessary. Day two, 8.30am, the announcement

everyone's been dreading. The news that everyone here feared, that one

of those men trapped underground has been found, dead. Even worse

than that, possibly, for those families that they don't know which

of those men it is who has been found. It was cave divers who went

in, up to the point as long as it was safe on the roof side of it.

They went in, and they found one deceased. At just past midnight,

the divers were at the site with the cover divers, the mines rescue

had fed all their equipment in, and two divers went through and dived

for about 30ms. They came into a bigger airspace. They then

proceeded up the passageway, wading in silt and mud, but in air. Still

wearing their gags, because they had been instructed that they must

keep the gags in, in face of any foul air. So they are breathing

oxygen through their masks. They were still breathing air through

their masks. They then discovered the body of a miner. They searched

the area they were in, where the first, or the body was found at the

mine shaft. There was nothing to suggest that the team hadn't been

split. So we hadn't found anyone else in that area, and trying to

make their way up the shaft. To me that just suggested they had gone

instead of running towards the main exit they ran uphill to where we

found the air pockets. As far as I was concerned there was still three

people alive to be found and it is still very much search and rescue.

The discovery of the first miners' body is confirmed to the waiting

media. Over night during the search and rescue operation which is on

going, a miner has been found. He is deceased. We are not in a

position to recover him from the mine, and therefore, we do not know

the identity of that person. I felt desperately sorry for the

families, I knew it was a waiting game to find out who that person

was, and I knew it was going to be very difficult for them. But again,

myself and the rest of the team, we never gave up hope that we might

find somebody alive. Then, at lunchtime, more bad news.

Unfortunately at 12.15 this afternoon, we located a second

miner. I will reiterate the fact that this is still an on going

search and rescue operation and all emergency services are fully

committed to getting those miners out as soon as possible.

Water levels have dropped now, and rescue teams are making steady

progress to remove debris. I spent enough time to establish the pumps

were working very well. As I had been told, the water was receding.

We penetrated further and further into the mine. Trying to recover,

hopefully, we still held out hope there were survivors. But by mid-

afternoon there is confirmation of a third body. Quickly after that

press conference I was informed that they had found a third body.

That was communicated to the press, to the families and then to the

press. We had taken the opportunity that morning to go and speak to the

families, and explain on the back of serviettes, or whatever was

there, in the community room, to the families, exactly what we were

doing, what areas of the mine we had searched and where we believed

there still could be miners safe and sound in the mine. We were

trying to get to those areas. We took personal responsibility to

update the families ourselves of exactly what we were doing.

If you had seen the colliers come out, mines' rescue workers, who had

dug those men out. It was a sight to be seen. They have to be praised

for it. True heros, in my mind. True heros. The Prime Minister's

been kept informed of events as they have unfolded. It is obviously

a desperately sad situation. And one can only imagine the anguish

that those families are going through, and will go through.

Clearly the sorrow of losing loved ones. I spoke to the Gold Commander,

and it is clear the emergency serves have done everything they

can, and worked incredibly hard, they haven't lacked for anything.

It is obviously a desperately, desperately sad situation for

everyone concerned. Any faint hopes of finding the last

surviving miner alive now seem all but lost. Then, a press conference

is called at 6.00pm. We have tried to bring this safely

to its conclusion. Unfortunately, the conclusion that we have is the

one that none of us want. We now move from a search and recovery

operation, to one of investigation. This was the news that we all

feared, we thought, in South Wales, that the days of mining accidents

were behind us, but we were wrong. I want to express my sympathies for

the families, sympathies on behalf of the people of Wales to the

families of our of their own. I would also like to thank all those

messages of support that have come from within Wales and outside our

country, from around the world. I know that this accident has touched

many hearts, both within Wales and without.

The whole of the country had held its breath for two days, hoping the

rescuers could bring the men home to their families. When we heard

that the fourth person had been found, obviously all our hearts

sank. All along in my eyes it was always a search and rescue

operation. We kept driving ourselves forward, but then after

36 hours on site, all my energy suddenly sank. I think I was ready

for home. We brought them out, and we just

wanted to get them back. We had the people down there, to be honest, we

would have moved that mountain if we had to to get these people one

way or another we would have got them back. I'm very proud of what

the Mines Rescue Service did. I saw with my own eyes what they did, I

can't praise them enough. And the other rescue services that were

here. Nearly 36 hours since the world

first learned of four trapped men, it was now reflecting on what they

must have gone through. It is something that hits home very

hard, when people working in difficult conditions unfortunately

meet with an incident that occurred with such force. The ferocity that

it did. It didn't give them a chance.

The families are remarkable in their resolve. But it has been

devastating too. Very, very sad. Real gents, good

hard working men. Lived for their families, and tremendous guys.

The next day, and the mens' family, friends and the community they

lived in, begin to pay their respects. Among them, a poignant

tribute from Phillip Hill's daughter, Kyla.

The wider community remembers too. It is many years since a Welsh

valley has had to endure the tragedy of a mining accident,

whilst the family and local people grieve, the emergency services have

to turn their thoughts to an investigation.

This site has become a crime scene. I use that in a technical sense of

the world, not to be dramatic. It is under the control of the police.

We are now helping the police. I have been appointed to lead the

investigation. And I'm working with my counterpart in the police.

The police will investigate to see if a crime has been committed. The

mines' inspectorate will determine if there have been any breaches of

health and safety. Without speculating, we know that certain

things have to be done, including a plan, when you are working in old

workings, is that right? Plans must be kept for many different purses.

Every mine must maintain their plans for the mine workings,

generally for things like Mines Rescue Service and up-to-date

emergency plans. Every mine must have an accurate plan. Including

one to do with the inrush of water risk, to do with old workings?

mine plans must show relevant information on them. And plans that

show potentially flooded areas, and where current workings are, they

are absolutely crucial. Anything you can say so far on that?

know we have just started that, we are drawing our team together, we

know that something has gone wrong. Of that we are absolutely sure. It

would be improper for me to speculate at the moment. Obviously,

we're going to do this investigation properly, everybody

expects that from us, and I can assure everyone that we will get to

the bottom of this situation. Church services across Wales are

rembering the four miners killed in the colliery in the Swansea Valley.

A makeshift memorial to the men appears in Portal, and Prince

Charles agrees to be patron of an appeal fund setp for their families.

Saying he was deeply - set up for their families. Saying he was

deeply sand by events. He also sent a private message to them. The four

miners are also remembered on the opposite side of the globe.

The Welsh team, wearing black armbands as a mark of respect,

dedicate their win against Samoa to the miners' families.

The community will continue to grieve, but already there are calls

for politicians to examine regulations and the safety of small

mines. I think the Welsh Government, the Welsh Assembly should be

looking at this as well, to recommend to the Health and Safety

Executive, is it not feasible to actually dewater some of these

areas, to ensure you have got areas of coal which actually could be

safer worked than they are now. Last night in Pontardawe, hundreds

gathered to pay their respects at a candlelit vigil.

The mine's owners say they have been too upset to talk publicly,

but released a statement saying they were devastated by the

accident, and their thoughts were with the miners' families and

frebdz. - friends. The police focus now is to determine if the incident

is a criminal matter. The focus is on the investigation

to identify with fact the answers to the questions that the families

will have. As far as I'm concerned, with HSE, we will carry out a

thorough investigation to determine fact rather than speculation, that

may take us some time, but that's where I'm coming from.

Today, the families of the four men issued their own tributes. Garry

Jenkins family said he lived life to the full and was always happy

and hard working. Charles Bresnan had recently celebrated 40 years of

marriage, and had been a coal miner most of his working life. Phillip

Hill's family say he endured a lot of tragedy recently, and wished to

thank the rescue services. And David Powell was his family's

life and soul, bringing joy and fun to everyone he met.