Six men were dead as a result of a gas explosion in the Woodward No. 3 slope of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Coal Company at Westmoor.  Three were killed instantly and the remaining three died within a few hours at Nesbitt West Side Hospital where they were taken as fast as modern methods could convey them.  The injured were taken from No. 3 shaft at Westmoor.  Those injured received first aid in the mines and their wounds were re-dressed when they reached the surface, and then they were immediately rushed to Nesbitt West Side Hospital.  They were all horribly burned and they died one after another within a few hours after they reached the hospital.  Those instantly killed were burned almost beyond recognition.  Source document 

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Three Killed, Three Injured in Explosion
Lebanon Daily News, Pennsylvania
August 9, 1916 Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Aug. 9. -- Three miners were instantly killed and three others were fatally injured when a pocket of gas exploded in the No. 3 mine of the Woodward colliery of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Coal Company Tuesday.

The dead are:

• Benjamin Williams
• Ernest Hildon
• Frank Jarman
• Stanley Tuchin
• John Litwok
• Joseph Glukowski

The last two were employed as laborers and the others as miners.

Williams, Jarman and Tuchin died as the result of their injuries a few hours after being rescued.  Hildon, Litwok and Glukowski were instantly killed.

The explosion took place in the Hillman vein and the cause is a mystery.  While the mine is very gaseous, great precautions were taken to guard against an explosion.  Miners were searched for matches every day.  No smoking was allowed and all employees of the vein were forced to use locked safety lamps.

The explosion was terrific.  It was felt on the surface and soon afterward company officials and doctors were on the scene.

It was more than two hours before they could reach the scene of the disaster.  The three injured men lay for that time where they fell and were suffering from the effects of the gas created by the discharge of the explosion.  Company officials say that they cannot account for the explosion, and while there is nothing definite as yet, the belief is that one of the men lighted a match and touched off the gas.