A FACEBOOK page mocking the deaths of four miners who died in Wales has been removed following pressure from users of the social media website.
The shocking site, which was condemned as “thoroughly sick” by an official from the National Union of Mineworkers, was already under investigation by police following complaints from outraged members of the public.
The page, entitled “I’m really sad for those four miners. LOL j/k, they were Welsh”, took the form of an on-line hate campaign targeting the Welsh with racial slurs and trivialising the tragic deaths.
One posting on the site stated: “I just wish more miners had died”.
Other posts made jokes about the dead men, while tasteless images were also posted.
COUNTER-GROUP
Last night the page had been removed from Facebook, with users of a counter-group celebrating it’s demise.
One user of the “Remove ‘I’m really sad for those four miners. LOL j/k, they were Welsh’” group posted: “Whoever posted these sick things on facebook would not have the guts to work underground. He could not lace the boots of any of the four deceased miners.”
Another user, posting from Wales, added: “I just hope for the sake of the families that that p**** is prosecuted and jailed!! It doesn’t matter where in the world this happened it’s still a tragic loss it just so happens to be in our back yard which is why we as fellow villagers of the Welsh valley’s feel the pinch and shock of it all. I totally agree with what [previous poster] has said 100% I know I wouldn’t have the guts to do their job or that of our emergency services and forces!! xxx”
Other users called for the page creator to be named and shamed and prosecuted by police.
CHURCH SERVICES
Church services took place across south Wales to pay tribute to the memory of the miners who lost their lives.
Phillip Hill, 45, Garry Jenkins, 39, David Powell, 50, and Charles Breslin, 62, died when water engulfed Gleision Colliery near Pontardawe.
All four are thought to have been killed instantly as flood water submerged a tunnel in which a team of seven men were working. Of three others who escaped one remains in a critical condition in hospital.
Relatives of the dead men have said they want the mine closed for good.
A spokesman for the South Wales Police confirmed that a significant number of complaints about the site had been received and it was now under investigation.
