(Because
no official records are kept this list is compiled from state records and Search
and Rescue volunteer organizations.)
- September
15, 1955 --Two men entered an old mine by digging through the tunnel from
above. The mine atmosphere contained bad air (no oxygen). Both men were
found dead approximately 6,200 feet from the portal 3 days later.
- August 1,
1958 -- A 17-year old boy, who was exploring a mine, fell 120 feet to his
death when the ladder gave way.
- February 12,
1961 --A 17-year old youth was shot by another target practicing youth who
discharged his gun into the adit where the youth, father and friend were
collecting ore samples.
- May 24, 1965
-- Two boys entered a mine. One fell 320 feet to his death.
- September 15,
1968 --A Fort Carson Soldier, who was exploring a mine, in the Cripple Creek
area and was overcome by gases and fell 90 feet to his death. It was sealed
by the state in 1987.
- April 5, 1970
--On an outing with friends, an individual fell to his death in a snow-covered
shaft at the Glory Mine in Gilpin County
- October 1,
1977--A 45-year old Lakewood man was killed when he fell into the Glory
Hole Mine near Central City in Gilpin County.
- April 27, 1986
--A 24-year old Colorado Springs man was killed after falling down a 900-foot
mine shaft at the Mary McKinney Mine near Cripple Creek.
- December 7,
1986 --An 11-year old died when he fell into a mine shaft while skiing out
of bounds on Aspen Mountain.
- June 19, 1987
--Two 21-year old men were test driving a new 4-wheel drive vehicle in Gilpin
County. One of the men was in the jeep when the jeep went into the Empress
Mine shaft, fell, and the jeep became lodged 34 feet down the shaft. The
vehicle had to be removed in order to continue rescue efforts. The man’s
body was eventually found 350 feet below the surface.
- March 24, 1989
--A 2-year old boy slipped into an open mine shaft and fell 200 feet to
this death. The shaft was located just behind his family home in Central
City.
- August 1989
--A man vacationing in Colorado was exploring at the Skyline Clay Mine stope
complex in the hogback just west of Canon City in Fremont County. While
climbing inside the mine, an 800-pound rock pulled away from the wall and
pressed against his chest. He died of suffocation.
- August 13,
1989--Three people aged 15, 16 and 17, entered the previously safeguarded
Bookcliffs Mine in Mesa County and were in 300 feet from the entrance when
they encountered a lethal concentration of CO2 and died. The 1/2" x
2" lock box hasp on the 1/4 inch thick steel door had been vandalized
a few weeks to a few months earlier.
- January 13,
1996 --A student from Mesa College in Grand Junction entered the Gearhart
coal mine in the Bookcliffs area. The mine closure had been vandalized allowing
entry. He died from lack of oxygen.
- September 1999
--Suffocation death of a 49-year old Texas man in a mine tunnel near Lake
City. Rescuers discovered the body 600 feet inside the entrance of the Chicago
mine near Henson Creek. A companion and a child exploring the mine with
the man left the tunnel when they felt faint. The man died from lack of
oxygen, authorities said.
Abandonded
Mine Injuries and Accidents
