One worker, the leader of the rescue crew, died from carbon monoxide inhalation while attempting to reach the victims shortly after the explosion.
The first blast occurred between 8:00 a.m. and 8:15 a.m. in a chamber approximately 7,000 feet (2,100 m) from the entrance to the Utah Fuel Company's Castle Gate Mine #2.
Inside the mine, rails were twisted, roof supports were destroyed, afterdamp and coal dust filled the air, and the lamps of the surviving miners were blown out.
[5] The nationalities of the men killed in the explosion reflect the labor force of mining industry in the United States in the early 20th century: of the 171 fatalities, 50 were native-born Greeks, 25 were Italians, 32 English or Scots, 12 Welsh, four Japanese, and three Austrians (or South Slavs).
The death benefits from the Utah State Workmen's Compensation Fund, established in 1917, provided $5,000 per dependent, paid out in $16 per week for six years.