Marcinelle

Geschiedenis

Marcinelle Mårcinele) is a section of the Walloon city of Charleroi in the Belgian province of Hainaut. Until 1977, it was a municipality of its own. Home of the comics publisher Dupuis, as many popular creators of Franco-Belgian comics were based in Marcinelle the town has given name to the famous drawing style known as the Marcinelle school. Marcinelle is also the place where serial killer Marc Dutroux lived, before his arrest.HistoryMining accident of MarcinelleOn the morning of August 8, 1956, a fire in the mines of Marcinelle resulted in 262 casualties. At the time of the incident, 274 people were working in the colliery Bois du Cazier, also known as Puits Saint-Charles. A mining wagon incorrectly positioned in the elevator cage struck an oil pipe and electrical cables when the elevator started moving. This caused a fire, which trapped the miners working in the galleries below. Of the 274 people working on that morning, only twelve survived. Most of the victims were immigrants. Among the victims, there were 136 Italians, 95 Belgians, eight Poles, six Greeks, five Germans, five Frenchmen, three Hungarians, one Englishman, one Dutchman, one Russian and one Ukrainian.Rescue operations continued until August 23 when the final verdict came from the mouth of a rescuer: "Tutti cadaveri!" (All corpses). The incident prompted Italy to demand better working conditions for the Italian guest workers in Belgium. Belgium, however, decided to recruit foreign workers from other countries more actively.