Forty years after an explosion at a Queensland coal mine killed his father, CQUniversity student, Errol Jones has finished a dramatic screenplay about the tragedy and its devastating aftermath.
Errol’s father was killed in the Box Flat (Ipswich) mine disaster of 1972 which claimed 17 lives and brought about dramatic changes to mine safety legislation in the state.
“My family and I watched with horror the ABC TV News coverage of the mine being sealed,” Errol explained to CQ University’s UniNEWS.
“Less than 24-hours after a major underground explosion, bulldozers filled in the entrances to the tunnels, effectively entombing my father, Robert Lloyd Jones, and his workmates.
“None of the victims’ families was advised of the decision to seal the mine. The shocking scene went to air unedited, leaving the traumatised families wondering if their loved ones were buried alive. No proof of death had been established.”
Errol says his screenplay, Pitfalls, asks questions over whether the miners were, in fact, buried alive.
“In my own case, guilt has been my toughest psychological burden. For years I’ve felt that, as the oldest of Dad’s kids I should have done more. I should have questioned the decision to seal the mine. I should have asked why the decision-makers did not inform the families before sending in the bulldozers. I should have asked why the official Inquiry reportedly took only 45-minutes. This was probably less time than the officials spent at lunch.”
“Pitfalls says much about the Aussie coalmining town’s spirit of loyalty, courage, and basic culture of decency. Every day the miners went down the pit they knew it might well be their last. Such are the dangers associated with underground coalmining. This accounted for them taking nothing for granted, being bound by a need to look after one another, and being grateful at the end of each workday for their survival. In many ways their unity was much like that forged amongst soldiers on the warfront!”
Errol says he has no interest in making profits from his screenplay but wants to create public awareness about the Box Flat tragedy and the wider tragedy of coal mine disasters.
“The men down there in the Box Flat mine deserve to have their story told,” Errol says.
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