UMWA marking 44th anniversary of W.Va. mine blast
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FAIRMONT, W.Va. (AP) For the 44th year, the United Mine Workers of America is holding a memorial service marking the 1968 coal mine explosion that killed 78 West Virginia miners.
The public event is set for 1 p.m. Sunday at the Farmington No. 9 memorial, just north of Mannington. UMWA International President Cecil E. Roberts is the keynote speaker.
The Marion County mine owned by Consolidation Coal now Consol Energy, based in Canonsburg, Pa. exploded at 5:30 a.m. on Nov. 20, 1968, with 99 men inside.
Only 21 escaped. Nineteen of the 78 who died remain entombed there.
The blast prompted Congress to pass the federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act.