WEST FRANKFORT, Ill. (AP) — Sixty-five years later, relatives and friends have gathered in southern Illinois to remember a mine disaster that killed 119 men.
Candles were lit for every victim and names were read Wednesday night at Trinity United Methodist Church in West Frankfort. In 1951, a methane gas explosion occurred at the Orient 2 coal mine in Franklin County. It was to be last shift until after Christmas.
The Southern Illinoisan says a memorial service is held every five years.
Steve Sawalich, who hosted the service, says the explosion was a “tragedy that forever will be remembered.” Marla Summers says three of her five relatives at the mine died that night. Her grandfather, the mine manager, helped people escape.