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Senghenydd marks mine tragedy that killed hundreds

The relief at Chile's mine rescue has captured the world's imagination and underlined the dangers facing those who work underground.

One tiny south Wales community - the Aber valley in Caerphilly county - has long lived with the risks and on Thursday is coming together for a service to remember two tragedies.

More than 500 men and boys died in 1901 and 1913 at the Universal Colliery in Senghenydd.

The second explosion, on 14 October 1913, was to remain the UK's worst pit disaster of the 20th Century, killing 439 miners trapped in three mines.

That blast was so powerful that it threw a two-ton pit cage back up the shaft with such force that it decapitated the man overseeing the winding gear.

The funerals were held until the middle of November while rescuers were still finding men alive days later....

Read entire article at BBC