Accident among counties worst tragedies
ROBBINS — Friday's accident on U.S. Hwy. 27 here is likely the worst traffic fatality in Scott County's history.
The two-vehicle accident claimed the lives of four Scott High School students, a Fentress County woman and an unborn child, placing it among the worst tragedies in the county's history.
Following are what are believed to be the five worst tragedies over the years:
1. Phillips & West Coal Co. explosion
On Monday, March 23, 1959, miners returned to work at the Phillips & West Coal Co.'s Mine No. 1 in Robbins. At 7:30 a.m., as workers reported for their shift, an explosion occurred inside the mine. Methane gas had pooled inside the mine, presumably because a fan inside the mine had not been blowing since the miners' shift ended the previous Friday. Something — perhaps a spark from a trolly transporting miners into the mine, or from a cigarette — triggered an explosion, killing all nine people underground.
2. U.S. Hwy. 27 wreck
On Friday, Oct. 24, 2008, an SUV hydroplaned on a rain-slick section of U.S. Hwy. 27 in Robbins — commonly referred to as the "3-lane" — and struck another vehicle, bursting into flames. Four Scott High School cheerleaders in the SUV were killed, and a woman and an unborn child in the second car were killed.
3. Sewanee River Special train wreck
In January 1931, the Sewanee River Special, pride of the Queen & Crescent route passenger train, derailed on the Southern Railroad line on the big curve just south of Helenwood. Six passengers were killed.
4. Ponce de Leon train wreck
On Nov. 12, 1929, the Ponce de Leon passenger train was carrying 150 vacationers from Florida to Cincinnati along the Southern Railroad line when the train jumped the tracks in Glenmary, plunging down a 20 ft. embankment and into a creek, killing five passengers and injuring many more.
5. CL Kline mine explosion
In 1965, five minuters — Arthur Norris, 45, Phillip Davis, 55, Lawrence Griffith, 45, Clayton Griffith, 25, and Russell Webb, 55 — were killed in an explosion at the CL Kline Mine near Robbins. Accumulated methane gas was ignited by a cigarette lighter, causing the explosion.