01-02-2021, 06:42 PM
The weather was quite mild and dry today so I took the car out for a run round the area, with the intention of popping in to see a friend who had been having some health problems. Patrice wasn't in so I left a message with a neighbour and carried on, stopping off for a photos opportunity at the memorial to the Lalle mining disaster of 1861 in Bessèges.
The 11th of October 1861, 142 miners were working underground when violent thunderstorms took place causing rivers in the area to burst into the mine, trapping 111 men and boys. Two were rescued later that day, three others several days later. The remainder, 106 souls perished. Fathers & sons, brothers, friends and neighbours.
It is the worst mining disaster in history to strike the Alès basin. The names of all those that died are engraved on the sides of these granite slabs.
![[Image: 20210201-141501.jpg]](https://i.postimg.cc/KvQsYbW6/20210201-141501.jpg)
The 11th of October 1861, 142 miners were working underground when violent thunderstorms took place causing rivers in the area to burst into the mine, trapping 111 men and boys. Two were rescued later that day, three others several days later. The remainder, 106 souls perished. Fathers & sons, brothers, friends and neighbours.
It is the worst mining disaster in history to strike the Alès basin. The names of all those that died are engraved on the sides of these granite slabs.