On the 8th of August, 1956, the shift at the mine started as usual: at 7 a.m. 275 miners started to get in crates to go down to the depth of around one kilometer where coal mining was carried out. Only 13 of them managed to go up. 262 miners became victims of a fire. This was the biggest industrial catastrophe in Belgium. It happened in Charleroi, 60 km away from Brussels. Today, the place of the mine is occupied by the Bois du Cazier memorial. The story was scary and wide renowned. The «set of circumstances» was claimed to be the «culprit». The crates which people used to go down stopped at different «floors» of the mine where the mining works were conducted. A part of miners stepped out at the 715th meter, others stepped out at the 975th meter and 9 miners went to the very bottom of the mine – to the 1035th-meter level. There was a fireman on duty at the 170th-meter level. But, unfortunately, this fact could not prevent the tragedy. Later the extracted coal was lifted in the same crates (two with eight bunches in each). The signal of readiness for a lift was given in two ways: by phone and by a special call. What happened next can be reconstructed only roughly since all the main witnesses died. Due to an oversight of a sender and a receiver of the crate, a poorly fixed trolley full of coal went up. A sudden movement made it roll. It smashed a wall of the crate and hit the electrical cable of a power unit that drove the mine lift. There was a short circuit, and a fire started. The fire at the depth of almost one kilometer was something that could not be controlled. People fought the fire and got the bodies out for around one day. 262 died and 13 survived. Those 13 survived miners and relatives of the dead miners collected signatures for making a memorial inside the closed mine.

Today, there is a chance to see what were the life and work conditions of the miners, their uniform, mining equipment, and the trolleys with coal that were not sent.

The memorial is located on the territory where the Museum of Glass and the Museum of Industry are located. You can save a lot of money by buying a ticket for three objects at once. Tickets are available at the ticket office or on the website.