Courrieres: Europe’s Worst Mine Disaster
12m | Nov 4, 2026In 1906, a coal dust explosion ripped through the mines beneath Courrieres in northern France and killed over a thousand miners in an instant, the worst mining disaster in European history. Rescue was called off too soon, the dead were abandoned underground, and then, weeks later, survivors walked out of the darkness alive.
In this episode of Six Feet of History, August Mercer tells the story of the explosion, the men given up for dead who came back, and the anger that swept the coalfields afterward. Six Feet of History is a daily true history podcast digging up the dark, forgotten, and untold stories of the past. New episode every day.
Tags: #history #truehistory #historypodcast #darkhistory #forgottenhistory #Courrieres #mining #France #disaster #untoldhistory
Keywords: Courrieres mine disaster, worst mining disaster in Europe, 1906 France explosion, coal dust explosion, 1099 dead, miners trapped, history podcast, true history, forgotten disasters, dark history, untold history, French history, coal mining history, survivors underground, Pas-de-Calais, mining strike, industrial disaster, firedamp, labour history, Six Feet of History
