‘History repeating itself’: Beaconsfield mine disaster survivor speaks out about Ballarat miner’s death

Brant Webb – one of two men who survived underground for two weeks after the mine they were working in collapsed – feared the worst when he heard of the Ballarat tragedy this week, and has offered the community a piece of advice.

Brant Webb is one of the miners who was trapped underground in the Beaconsfield gold mine collapse in 2006. Picture: Peter Mathew

A survivor of the 2006 Beaconsfield mine disaster thought “history was repeating itself” as he heard the news of the Ballarat gold mine collapsing on 37-year-old Kurt Hourigan.

Brant Webb, who survived for two weeks underground after the Tasmanian gold mine collapsed, said he feared the worst as the news filtered through of Wednesday’s tragedy.

He implored the Bruthen man’s workmates and family to look out for each other, recalling how it helped his crew mourn the death of Larry Knight in the Beaconsfield disaster.

Mr Webb, who still requires regular hospital visits for his ongoing injuries and illness after almost two decades, said he couldn’t believe Wednesday’s news.

Kurt Hourigan was killed in the Ballarat mine disaster. Picture: Supplied

“It was shithouse, I just went ‘you’re f---en joking’, it’s like history was repeating itself,” he told the Herald Sun.

“It was a bit of a shock, I couldn’t believe we were the same age, I was 37 as well.

“They’re going to be reeling, they’re going to do it so tough.

“Some of the guys he worked with, they aren’t going to be able to get over it.

“The knock on effect is huge, people will move and leave town because their wives won’t let them go back (in the mine) so they’ll move away and go to another mine.”

Miners Todd Russell and Brant Webb emerge from Beaconsfield Gold Mine on Tuesday, May 9, 2006. They survived for two weeks in a kennel-size cage trapped nearly a kilometre (3,000 feet) underground. Picture: Ian Waldie

Kurt Hourigan’s body was tragically recovered on Thursday morning after crews worked to free two miners pinned under a rock 500m below the surface in Ballarat.

A 21-year-old Ballarat man was on Friday still fighting for his life in the Alfred Hospital with lower body injuries.

But Mr Webb said no mine would ever be 100 per cent safe as the earth was often unpredictable.

“Mining is like being on a boat, you can have every bit of safety equipment you want on that boat, but the ocean will do whatever it f---en wants, rocks are the same,” he added.

“Their wives are going to say ‘you don’t have to go back down’, and the blokes are going to have to convince them that it’s okay.

“It’s a f — en big deal because when we lost Larry (Knight) I couldn’t believe how big the knock on effect was from one site and one bloke.”

Ballarat Gold Mine from above. Picture: Ian Wilson

Shocked WorkSafe Minister Danny Pearson said the incident was an “absolute tragedy”.

“I can’t imagine the trauma they’ve gone through this week. I can’t imagine what it’d be like to lose a colleague. I can’t imagine what it’d be like to be trapped underground for hours wondering if you’re going to get out at all,” he said on Friday.

“This is an incredibly tragic event and a really incredibly difficult time for the workers involved.”

Mr Pearson said he had spoken with WorkSafe and is awaiting the findings of their investigation.

“We really need to get to the bottom of what’s happened,” he added.

“With any tragedy like this, we have to have a full and thorough investigation. That will take some time.”