Honour wall marks dark toll for gold
A memorial to honour over 1,400 people who have died in mining accidents should be unveiled soon, and authorities say they hope it remind current workers to think about safety.
The miners' memorial committee in Kalgoorlie-Boulder says work on the memorial is nearing completion after more than five years of toil.
The honour wall at the WA Museum in Kalgoorlie will remember those who have died in mining accidents in the Goldfields since 1892. It reaches more than 10 metres long and 2.5 metres high, with names engraved on both sides.
Memorial committee member Doug Daws has told ABC News that the final list is constantly being updated.
“Well we're still collecting them, that's the sad thing and I'm not talking about fatalities we might be yet to have,” he said.
“Unfortunately the more this has become known there's still new names, they're old names actually but new to us, that have been identified and verified.”
“So it'll be a pretty bleak outlook really to look at so many names of fathers, sons, brothers, and of course two women, that have been killed in these unfortunate events,” Mr Daws said.
The memorial is set to be unveiled this weekend.