Box Flat Mine Disaster approaches 41 year memorial

31st July, 1972, 3am, 10 miners and 7 rescuers were killed in an explosion at Box Flat Mine, Ipswich. Another 12 were seriously injured. 3 of the men killed were working on the surface adjacent to the mine entrance.
Mr Hardie: “I recollect a suck back of material towards the tunnel mouth followed by a huge ball of bright red flame which shot out and illuminated the area for hundreds of feet”. By the following morning bulldozers moved in to seal the mine, forever entombing 14 of the victims. A memorial service was held against the backdrop of billowing black smoke. For miners and residents the disaster is still fresh in their minds 41 years on.