The Menzengraben mining accident was the explosion of a large pocket of carbon dioxide in a
salt mine
Salt mining extracts natural salt deposits from underground. The mined salt is usually in the form of halite (commonly known as rock salt), and extracted from evaporite formations.
History
Before the advent of the modern internal combustio ...
in
Menzengraben,
East Germany
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
, on 7 July 1953.
During a planned, nightly explosives detonation in the mine, an unusually large pocket of pressurized
carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide (chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is transpar ...
was suddenly released, resulting in the ejection of large blocks of salt through the mine shaft at very high velocities.
The expanding gas as well as the blocks of salt demolished the building above the mine shaft, resulting in blocks of concrete being ejected as well.
Three died as a consequence, one from being hit by debris, two from asphyxiation.
References
*
* . In
Mining disasters in Germany
1953 in East Germany
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