On July 31, 1973, 18 coal miners lost their lives and a further 11 were seriously injured in a Mining accident at the Markham Colliery at Staveley near Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England.
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A descending cage carrying the men failed to slow down as it approached the bottom of the mine shaft and 18 miners were killed by the impact. The accident was caused by fracture of the brake-rod, when a slowly growing fatigue crack reached a critical size and the brake-rod parted.
Following a thorough investigation it was found that metal fatigue failure occurred in the braking mechanism used to slow down the cage as it descended.
It was the second major disaster at the colliery following an underground explosion in 1938 that killed 79 miners and seriously injured 40 others.
The mine closed in 1994.
Lawley, A., "The Markham Colliery Disaster - A Case Study in Fatigue", in Materials Under Stress, Third Level Open University Course, The Open University Press, UK 1976.