Two new victims have been identified among the 14 remains that could not be formally identified after the 1956 mine disaster. This is reported by the director of Bois du Cazier in Marcinelle. The mine disaster is considered the largest industrial disaster in Belgian history.
Journalist at HLN
Source: Belga
The investigation started in 2019 at the request of the son of one of the 262 victims of the disaster. He hoped that his father could be formally identified as one of the 14 victims whose bodies lay unidentified in the plot of the Marcinelle cemetery.
This required investigators to exhume the bodies and track down close relatives of the victims to conduct DNA comparisons. Using modern techniques, a first victim was recognized in 2022. A second and a third followed in 2024, and a fourth in 2025.
Biggest industrial disaster in Belgian history
On August 8, 1956, a fire broke out in the Bois du Cazier coal mine. 262 miners, most of them Italians, were killed. The accident is seen as the largest industrial disaster in Belgian history.
The Bois du Cazier site is today a museum and has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2012.
