1965 — March 13, Landslide, men working on retaining wall, fill caves-in, Columbia, SC– 7

–7 Environmental Science Svc. Admin., Weather Bureau. Storm Data, 7/3, March 1965, p. 19.
–7 UPI. “Seven Men Smothered in Slide.” Daily Independent, Kannapolis, NC, 3-14-1965, p. 1.

Narrative Information

Weather Bureau Storm Data: “South Carolina. Columbia, Richland County…13 [March]…1:37 p…7 [killed…Landslide.

“Supposedly due to excess rainfall, fill caved in burying 7 men working on retaining wall.” (Environmental Science Svc. Admin., Weather Bureau. Storm Data, 7/3, March 1965, p. 19.)

Newspaper

March 14: “Columbia, S.C. (UPI) – Seven workmen were killed Saturday [13th] when a 60-foot embankment collapsed on them at a post office construction site. Five bodies buried 15 feet under the muddy dirt and rock were recovered. Hours later firemen, construction workers, convicts and two Catholic priests were still shoveling to reach two more men buried under the tons of earth. There was no hope of reaching them alive.

“The men were in a crew of eight erecting a concrete retaining wall against the embankment. The cliff had existed for generations. The wall was designed to keep it from sliding onto workers laying the foundations for the post office. Shortly after the workers finished their lunch break and they resumed their positions on the wall, the embankment collapsed. ‘I looked back and saw the dirt tumbling down,’ said O’Neal Johnson, 52, a…laborer who was the only survivor. Johnson leaped off his three-foot perch on the wall and was pushed by the earth to safety as the tide of mud swept over his companions. Once the men were covered there was no chance of their surviving. Tons of concrete, mud and rock were between them and the men trying to reach them….

“M. L. McCrory, head of the post office, said his men had done little to change the contour of the embankment. There had been no slides on the cliff for years. ‘The slide was a result of water undermining the face of the cliff,’ he said. ‘The men were working on a wall which would have helped to shore up this cliff to prevent just what happened.’

“Identified as among the dead workers were Mack Ernest Tootley, 55, of Columbia, Joe R. Kiesler, 35, of Lexington, Moses H. Love, 52, of Florence and Niles K. Bellflower, 22, of Lugoff. Efforts were still being made to notify the next of kin of the fifth known victim.” (UPI. “Seven Men Smothered in Slide.” Daily Independent, Kannapolis, NC, 3-14-1965, p. 1.)

Sources

Environmental Science Service Administration, Weather Bureau. Storm Data, Vol. 7, No. 3, March 1965. Asheville: U.S. Department of Commerce, 1965. Accessed 6-5-2022 at: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/pub/orders/IPS/IPS-647067E3-5A1B-4A9C-9A97-E9E8BDA6B182.pdf

UPI. “Seven Men Smothered in Slide.” Daily Independent, Kannapolis, NC, 3-14-1965, p. 1. Accessed 6-7-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/kannapolis-daily-independent-mar-14-1965-p-1/