The first explosion killed all underground workers and their team of mules, while the subsequent blasts injured the mine superintendent and temporarily blocked the shaft with debris.

State and federal investigators later concluded that the first explosion was caused by an improperly set blasting charge which blew out a dust cloud that subsequently ignited.

Commercial exploitation of the coal field began in the 1850s, with mines dug near the settlement of Egypt (renamed Cumnock in 1895) which were connected to the Cape Fear River port of Fayetteville by rail.

[6] The blast, likely caused by coal dust or natural gas,[1] killed all workers underground at the time[9] and was felt in the nearby town.

[1] Mine superintendent Howard Butler saw smoke coming through a ventilation fan at the surface, and took mechanic Joe Richardson down the main slope to investigate.

[13] The day of the disaster, the United States Bureau of Mines dispatched a railway car from Thomas, West Virginia carrying special rescue equipment to North Carolina.

[14] North Carolina Governor Angus Wilton McLean ordered troops from Fort Bragg to control the gathering crowd at the site and authorized rescue equipment to be flown into Sanford.

The single functional charge was not strong enough to collapse the coal rock; it instead blew out the contents of the drill hole in which it had been placed and scattered dust that was subsequently ignited.

[24] Due to the deaths from the disaster, the adult population of Coal Glen shrunk by about half,[25] while 38 women were widowed and 79 children were rendered fatherless.

[26] McLean asked the public to raise $35,000 in relief funds and requested the American Red Cross to provide assistance to victims.

Upset with this limited response, a delegation from the city of Sanford went to Raleigh to meet with him, and convinced him to appoint a committee to coordinate a statewide fundraising campaign and offer advice to the Red Cross.

[27] John R. McQueen, the president of the Carolina Coal Company, placed the corporation into receivership and arranged for payouts to the impacted families.

[28] In part due to the disaster, the North Carolina General Assembly passed a workers' compensation law in 1929 with the encouragement of the Department of Labor.

[31] The shaft was later flooded by the Deep River, and the mine entrance sits on land owned by the General Timber Corporation.