Minnie Pit Disaster

Date: January 12, 1918 • Location: Audley, United Kingdom

An underground explosion at a coal mine in Staffordshire, England, killed 155 men and boys.

The Minnie Pit disaster was a coal mining accident that took place on 12 January 1918 in Halmer End, Staffordshire, in which 155 men and boys died. The disaster, which was caused by an explosion due to firedamp, is the worst ever recorded in the North Staffordshire Coalfield. An official investigation never established what caused the ignition of flammable gases in the pit.