World Map - Top Ten Mine Disasters of the World

The world has seen many mine disasters caused in the coal and hard rock mining processes. Every year, thousands of miners lose their lives in the mining accidents.

Most of the deaths that occur in these accidents are reported from developing countries, especially China.

Mining disasters occur due to leak of poisonous gases such as hydrogen sulfide, dust explosions, flooding, and most of the time due to malfunctioning of mining equipments.

The world map with top ten mine disasters of the world shows the location of top ten mine disasters that rocked different parts of the world. As the map shows, the worst mine disaster occured in Benxi, China on April 26, 1942, when a coal-dust explosion in the mine killed 1,549, 34% of the miners; it is the worst mining disaster till date.

Another major disaster took place in Courrieres, France on March 10, 1906. It is known as the Courrieres mine disaster and is considered the worst mining accident in European history. Over 1099 miners lost their lives in Northern France in the accident.

The other major mine disasters and the number of casualties that occurred are also shown in the map.

Mine Name	Location	Date	Casualty
Honkeiko Mine	Benxi, China	April 26, 1942	1549
Courrières Mine Disaster	Courrieres, France	March 10, 1906	1099
Mitsubishi Hojyo	Kyūshū, Japan	December 15, 1914	687
Laobaidong Mine	Datong, China	May 9, 1960	684
Mitsui Miike	Omuta, Japan	November 9, 1963	447
Senghenydd	Senghenydd, UK	October 14, 1913	438
Coalbrook	Coalbrook, South Africa	January 21,1960	437
Wankie	Wankie, Zimbabwe	June 6, 1972	427
New Yubari	Yubari, Japan	November 28, 1914	422
Zeche Monopol Schacht Grimberg	Bergkamen, Germany	February 20, 1946	405