Coal Mining Fatalities
This database contains 2498 known Nova Scotia coal mining fatalities. Names, dates, places, mines, and causes of death have been painstakingly compiled. Despite this, it is by no means a complete list. Fatalities occurred before records were kept; descriptions of incidents and those involved were lost along with coal company records. Official recording of multiple deaths may have missed some names; in some cases, names are misspelled. However, this is likely the most complete list that exists. Please contact us if you know names to add.
Displaying page 26 of 50 pages (2498 entries).
| Surname | Given Name(s) | Year |
County |
Mine | Cause |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Campbell | John | 1938 | Cape Breton County | Princess | Broken cable on riding rake; 1 of 21 killed |
| Semenuk | Mike | 1940 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 2 | Fall of coal |
| Patten | John | 1941 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 11 | Runaway trip |
| Cann | William | 1942 | Cape Breton County | Princess | Struck by trip |
| Dorando | Albert | 1943 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 16 | Struck by runaway box |
| Saltys | Joseph | 1944 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 4 | Strick by flying timber from tram |
| Devison | Hector | 1946 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 20 | Caught between box and stopping |
| Briggs | George | 1946 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 2 | Bump (more than 2 miles offshore); 1 of 4 killed |
| Copley | Samuel | 1948 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 20 | Machinery |
| MacIntosh | John J. | 1949 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 20 | Fall of stone |
| Marsh | Francis | 1951 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 16 | Fall of stone |
| McGillivray | John | 1953 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 1B | Haulage |
| Perhiniak | John | 1954 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 26 | Haulage |
| Mouland | George | 1956 | Cape Breton County | Florence | Fall |
| MacPhail | Clinton | 1957 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 20 | Haulage |
| Salon | John | 1959 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 18 | Haulage |
| Hudson | Alfred | 1960 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 20 | Falling chuck blocks |
| Keigan | Charles | 1962 | Cape Breton County | Princess | Haulage |
| Oliver | Joseph | 1965 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 26 | Fall of stone; 1 of 2 killed |
| Warren | Henry | 1968 | Cape Breton County | Dominion No. 26 | Haulage |
| Mombourquette | Alphonse | 1971 | Cape Breton County | DEVCO No. 12 | Natural Causes |
| Roberts | Michael | 1979 | Cape Breton County | DEVCO No. 26 | Methane explosion, sparked by coal shearer hitting stone; 1 of 12 killed |
| Kerr | Ross | 1983 | Cape Breton County | Prince | Electrocuted |
| Cullen or Cullins | David | 1914 | Pictou County | McGregor | Suffocation in mine |
| Ballantyne | George | 1915 | Pictou County | Drummond mine (Intercolonial) | Run over by a trip of coal |
| Benoit | Rodham | 1917 | Pictou County | Albion | Asphyxiated by methane |
| Bowran | George | 1923 | Pictou County | Albion | Caught and crushed by screening machinery |
| Cameron | Hugh | 1885 | Pictou County | Vale | Devastating methane explosion |
| Carpenter | Thomas | 1952 | Pictou County | McGregor | Methane explosion (localized); 1 of 19 killed |
| Colin | Francis | 1878 | Pictou County | Acadia | Run over by pit tub |
| Cullen | John Sr. | 1934 | Pictou County | Albion | Fall of coal |
| Debodt | Frank | 1925 | Pictou County | Acadia No. 3 (Six-Foot) | Fall of coal |
| Dunn | John | 1873 | Pictou County | Drummond mine (Intercolonial) | Devastating methane explosion |
| Flemming | James E. | 1945 | Pictou County | Allan Shaft | Fall of stone |
| Fraser | Archie | 1890 | Pictou County | Vale | Run over in a back balance |
| Gillis | Hugh | 1873 | Pictou County | Drummond mine (Intercolonial) | Devastating methane explosion |
| Hale | Samuel | 1873 | Pictou County | Drummond mine (Intercolonial) | Devastating methane explosion |
| Hawes | John | 1918 | Pictou County | Allan Shaft | Devastating methane explosion |
| Howatt | Timothy | 1873 | Pictou County | Drummond mine (Intercolonial) | Devastating methane explosion |
| Johnson | Peter | 1957 | Pictou County | McBean | Fall of coal |
| Kingou | James | 1873 | Pictou County | Acadia | Fall of coal |
| Leshambre | Pierre | 1918 | Pictou County | Allan Shaft | Devastating methane explosion |
| Lyall | Matthew | 1873 | Pictou County | Drummond mine (Intercolonial) | Devastating methane explosion |
| MacDonald or Greenwood | William A. | 1933 | Pictou County | Milford | Fall of stone |
| MacKenzie | Frank | 1909 | Pictou County | Albion | Killed on balance by runaway box |
| MacLeod | James | 1903 | Pictou County | Acadia | Died 15 February |
| Martin | George | 1918 | Pictou County | Allan Shaft | Devastating methane explosion |
| McDonald | Colin | 1873 | Pictou County | Drummond mine (Intercolonial) | Devastating methane explosion |
| McInnis | John | 1880 | Pictou County | Foord pit | Devastating methane explosion |
| McLellan | James | 1884 | Pictou County | Albion | Struck by a rake |