30 years today, sixty-eight mine workers were killed after an underground methane gas explosion at the Hlobane coal mine near Vryheid in Kwazulu-Natal . The gas explosion was caused by poor safety standards. A week before the explosion a miner who also died in the explosion discovered methane underground. The mine captain scratched out his report about underground methane to give the mine a good safety record. The mine owners were fined R400 for contravening the Mines and Works Act. Despite this explosion, the authorities continued to give the mine high ratings for safety standards .
eventREF E-0012529Revised
17 September 1983
Methane gas explosion kills 68 mine workers
- Updated
- 17 Sep 2020
How we know this
- 01Coal Surface Mining,Shibang,M, ‘Methane Explosion In Coal Mines’,from Coal Surface Mining, [online], available at www.coalsurfacemining.com (Accessed: 13 September 2013)
- 02Niekerk, P. (1986). " A grim sense of de'ja' vu ", Weekly Mail, Vol 4 no 36.
- 03‘Black Unions Take Up the Issue’, in the South Africa Review Service: Reporter, Volume 2, Issues 1-4 1984, p.6.
Last updated · 17 Sep 2020
South African History Online. (2011, March 16). Methane gas explosion kills 68 mine workers. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012529
South African History Online (2011) 'Methane gas explosion kills 68 mine workers', South African History Online, 16 March. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012529 (Accessed: 7 November 2026).
South African History Online, Methane gas explosion kills 68 mine workers [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012529, (accessed 7 November 2026).
"Methane gas explosion kills 68 mine workers." South African History Online, 16 Mar. 2011, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012529. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.
South African History Online. "Methane gas explosion kills 68 mine workers." South African History Online. March 16, 2011. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012529.
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