Pottsville, Pa., Aug. 9 -- (AP) -- Caught in a fall of timbers and debris in the Gilberton colliery of the Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Company last night, seven miners were killed and 16 others injured. Three of those who escaped with their lives were injured so severely they may not recover, hospital physicians said today.
Twenty-three men were working in the third level, about 1900 feet below the surface, when the accident occurred, due, investigators believed, to a sudden collapse of timbering. The dead and severely injured were buried under tons of silt, coal and dirt. The others escaped the full force of the avalanche.
The crash of breaking timbers and falling debris warned workers on the surface of the accident, and rescue crews set to work immediately to save their comrades. Thirteen of those taken out required only first aid treatment.
The colliery, 10 miles from Pottsville, has been closed for several months and new rails were being placed in the slope preparatory to resuming operations Monday.
