Bellevue mine disaster

On 10 December 1910, an explosion occurred underground in the West Canadian Collieries No. 1 Mine in the Crowsnest Pass community of Bellevue, Alberta. The explosion pushed all of the air out of the mine and filled it with afterdamp, a deadly gas that is a mixture of Carbon dioxide and Carbon monoxide, killing 30 of the 42 workers present at the time, as well as one rescue worker. The explosion was the first mining disaster in Alberta's history, and led to several changes in coal mining in the Crowsnest Pass. The event was soon overshadowed by the nearby Hillcrest mine disaster four years later, which killed 189 and is Canada's worst mining disaster to date.