Bois du Cazier

The Bois du Cazier (French pronunciation: [bwa dy kazje]) was a coal mine in what was then the town of Marcinelle, near Charleroi, in Belgium which today is preserved as an industrial heritage site.

It is best known as the location of a major mining disaster that took place on August 8, 1956 in which 262 men, including a large number of Italian labourers, were killed.

They were housed by the mining companies, which in reality meant they moved into Nissen huts in former prisoner of war camps in the region.

[4] An accident began at 8:10 AM when the hoist mechanism in one of the shafts was started before the coal wagon had been completely loaded into the cage.

The moving cage also ruptured oil and air pipes which made the fire worse and destroyed much of the winch mechanism.

[2] The disaster is considered a major moment in Belgian and Italian post-war history[4] and was the subject of a 2003 documentary film, Inferno Below, which won an award at the Festival International de Programmes Audiovisuels.

[citation needed] Since March 2002, the Bois du Cazier has been open to the public as a museum complex.