Bulli mine disaster
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The Bulli mine disaster occurred on 23 March 1887 at the Bulli Colliery in Bulli, New South Wales, Australia. A gas explosion blew out the tunnel mouth and resulted in the deaths of eighty-one men and boys. It is the second worst mining disaster in Australian history after the 1902 Mount Kembla mine disaster[1].
The Bulli Coal Mining Company was founded in 1863, loading its first shipment of coal on 22 June 1863.
The coal seams in Bulli are part of the Sydney Basin. Whilst the coal seams are far too deep in Sydney for their mining to be a viable economic proposition, the coal seams however are closer to the surface in the Illawarra area.
The Bulli Seam was known at the time of the disaster as the '8 foot seam', and by the late 1800s was considered the easiest in the area to work as it had the thickest and most saleable coal. Despite the gaseous nature of the seam, the Bulli Coal Mining Comapny decided to mine the Bulli Seam in 1884[2].
In January 1887, the owners of the Bulli Colliery decided to recruit non-unionised labour from Sydney due to local industrial disputes in 1886 [3].
Disaster
On Wednesday 23 March 1887 at 2:30pm an explosion occurred at the Bulli Colliery.
The miners who survived the initial force of the explosion succumbed to the effects of asphyxiant afterdamp.
