Richards Colliery Explosion

united states mine rescue association

Tank's Poetry

See more disasters
from this year

Mine Disaster Calendar

Stay Out Stay Alive

Susquehanna Collieries Company
Richards Colliery Explosion

Mount Carmel, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania
May 29, 1931
No. Killed - 5

USBM Final Investigation Report (3.2 Mb)

Bodies of 4 Miners Killed by Explosion in Mine Recovered
Bradford Era, Pennsylvania
May 30, 1931

Mount Carmel, May 29. (AP) -- The bodies of four miners were removed from the Richards tunnel mine of the Susquehanna colliery near here tonight.

The men were killed when an explosion occurred and they were caught under falling rock.

The dead:

Lewis Bogden, 34
Paul Kish, 19
Leonard Paraginski, 23
Paul Probilla, 35

A fifth man, Joseph Moleski, 21, Mount Carmel, was rescued this afternoon and taken to the Shamokin state hospital, where his condition was reported serious. He died from his injuries later.

5 Miners Die in Explosion
Syracuse Herald, New York
May 31, 1931

Mount Carmel, Pa., May 30 (AP) -- An explosion in the Richards Tunnel mine of the Susquehanna Collieries Company today had claimed the lives of five miners.  Three others were injured, none seriously, and four escaped unhurt.

The bodies of four men were removed from the mine late yesterday several hours after the explosion.  Joseph Moleski, 21, Mount Carmel, died in a hospital today.

Paul Kish, 22, and Leonard Parginskie, 22, of Mount Carmel, and Louis Bogdon, 35 and Paul Trodilla, 35, of Shamokin, were killed as the explosion hurled them against the sides of the shaft.

Twelve men were working in the section affected by the explosion, which occurred from an undetermined cause about 1,500 feet from the mouth of the mine.  The blast caused only a slight fall of rock and coal and the mine was little damaged.

Susquehanna Collieries CompanyRichards Colliery Explosion

Susquehanna Collieries Company
Richards Colliery Explosion