Video: '1968 Farmington Mine Disaster (West Virginia State Archives)'

(Wednesday, November 20, 1968, approximately 5:30 a.m. EST; during the Farmington Mine disaster) — 78 coal miners were killed this morning in an explosion and subsequent carbon monoxide poisoning at the Consolidation Coal Company Number 9 mine at Mannington, West Virginia.

99 miners were inside at the time of the explosion, but 21 were able to escape over the next few hours.

Video: 'Disaster Chronicles: Farmington Mine Disaster - A&E (1990)'

The cause of the explosion was never determined, but the accident served as the catalyst for several new laws that were passed to protect miners.