Most coal miners in the 1800s in the USA died from, in order of most common to less common:
- roof collapses, slate falls
- methane gas - inhaled
- explosion from TNT explosives
- explosion from methane gas igniting
- spontaneous coal fires and smoke inhalation
- breaking through to adjacent chamber filled with water, e.g. drowning
- late 1800s-early 1900s -- electrical fires, machinery malfunctions
