The National Association of Workers' Councils mourns together with the UGL trade union at the commemoration of the Marcinelle tragedy.
On August 8, 1956, a mining disaster occurred in the Bois du Cazier mine in Belgium. The accident occurred at 8:10 a.m. when the hoisting device in one of the shafts was started before the coal car was placed on the rail. Electrical cables snapped and started an underground fire inside the shaft. The moving carriage also ruptured oil and air pipes, which aggravated the fire and destroyed most of the winch. Smoke and carbon monoxide spread throughout the mine, killing all the miners trapped by the fire. At the time of the incident, 274 people were working in Bois du Cazier.
Rescue operations continued until August 23, when the final verdict came from the mouth of a rescuer: "Tutti cadaveri!" ( They are all dead ).
Of the 274 people who worked that morning, only twelve survived. Most of the victims were immigrants. One hundred and thirty-six Italians, ninety-five Belgians, eight Poles, six Greeks, five Germans, five French, three Hungarians, one English, one Dutch, one Russian and one Ukrainian were among the victims.
The incident prompted Italy to demand better working conditions for Italian guest workers in Belgium.
The UGL trade union commemorated the accident with a small symbolic gesture, drawing attention to the lessons of the disaster for Hungarian workers as well.
"For UGL, the friendship that connects the two countries and the two trade unions and the representation of common values are of great importance. Long live Hungary! Long live the friendship between Italy and Hungary!" - can be read in the letter sent to the UGL Works Councils.
Source and image: Munkastanacsok.hu
