Snaefell Mine Disaster remembered

Twenty men died in 1897

It's 127 years to the day since one of the Island's most devastating tragedies.

The Snaefell Mine disaster claimed the lives of 20 men on 10 May, 1897. 

They were all part of the early morning shift who descended into the mine at 6am on a Monday morning, unaware that a fire had been burning underground for much of the weekend.

The fire and smoke had gone, but a build-up of odourless carbon dioxide engulfed the miners as the descended into the shaft.

A heroic rescue operation was launched, but despite the efforts of rescuers 20 men succumbed to the poisonous gas.