1. PAMÁTCE OBĚTÍ / KATASTROFY NA DOLE UNRA DNE 12. DUBNA 1924 / A OBĚTÍ ZACHRANNĚ PRÁCE / PAMIĘCI OFIAR / KATASTROFY NA SZYBIE UNRRA Z DNIA 12 KWIETNIA 1924 / ORAZ OFIAR AKCJI RATUNKOWEJ / VĚNUJI: / POŚWIĘCAJĄ: / OSTRAVSKOKARVINSKĚ DOLY – NÁR. PODNÍK. //.

2. ZIGMONT / SMIGA / ✶1. 5. 1892 / ✝ 12. 4. 1924 //.

3. ALOIS SZUSTER / ✶ 18. 7. 1890 / ✝ 12. 4. 1924 //. 

4. KAREL STAWARSKI / ✶ 18. 8. 1904 / ✝ 12. 4. 1924 //.

5. JAN GODULA / ✶ 25. 4. 1896 / ✝ 12. 4. 1924 //.  

6. JOSEF / SZKLORZ / ✶ 20. 10. 1891 / ✝ 12. 4. 1924 //.

7. JAN / WIONIC / ✶ 9. 11. 1904 / ✝ 12. 4. 1924 //. 

8. JOSEF / PIPREK / ✶ 9. 8. 1892 / ✝ 12. 4. 1924 //.

9. ANTONIN / POPEK /  ✶ 19. 4. 1900 / ✝ 12. 4. 1924 //.                                

10. JOSEF / MACH / ✶ 12. 3. 1890 / ✝ 12. 4. 1924 //. 

11. PAWEŁ / BRACHACZEK / ✶ 23. 2. 1883 / ✝ 12. 4. 1924 //.

12.JAN / ZIEMNIOK / ✶ 31. 7. 1880 / ✝ 15. 8. 1924 //. 

13. FELIX / HALAMA / ✶ 18. 12. 1886 / ✝ 17. 7. 1924 //. 

1 The monument now has an altered form, the result of renovations carried out by the Ostrava-Karviná Mines in the 1970s or 1980s. 1980s. At that time, the original (probably poorly preserved inscription made of metal letters embedded in the wall of the monument, the content of the inscription is not preserved on the basis of the iconographic material, it can be assumed that on the central panel there was an inscription mentioning the catastrophe, and on its right side in two columns and on the left side in one column the names of the fallen) was removed and replaced with a plaque made of black magma rock. The form of commemoration of individual miners was also changed. Originally these were bands (probably also made of sandstone).

2 The history of the disaster. The Gabriela Mine in Karviná was one of the largest in the region in the early 1920s, with a daily output of around 2,000 tonnes. In 1924 a major disaster occurred there.
As early as the morning of 11 April 1924, a fire was discovered at the site of a collapsed mine face. In order to eliminate the danger, it was decided to close off the endangered area with three dikes. Their construction was relatively simple, so the main part of the work was completed after a few hours on the night of 12 April. Unfortunately, on the same day, shortly before midday, a powerful explosion occurred, which not only destroyed the ramparts, but also caused further damage and contamination of the area with post-explosion gases. The explosion mainly affected 15 miners working to strengthen the ramparts and six others nearby, only two of whom were able to be rescued.
However, this was not the end of the problems, in the afternoon the arriving mine rescue team entered the mine where they detected high concentrations of CO, which, together with the results of further samples indicating, among other things, a high concentration of methane, indicated the danger of an explosion and a smouldering fire in the mine. Attempts to ventilate the shafts with fans were interrupted by a powerful explosion at 2.10 p.m. Witnesses testified that the column of fire reached heights of up to 30 metres. The force of the explosion was so great that it toppled the mine tower, caused considerable damage to buildings and, above all, injured a further 8 people.
As a result, it was decided to close 5 shafts completely and, despite the rapid extinguishing of the fire, further explosions occurred. This time, however, thanks to the closed manholes, they did not pose a danger to the outside world. Work to revitalise the mine began in June 1924. Because of the continuing danger of explosion and the high concentration of harmful gases, the work was extremely difficult to carry out, and much of it was carried out using oxygen masks. Despite a number of precautions, two more miners died during the work.
The powerful explosions completely destroyed the mining equipment inside the mine, but the structure of the shaft was not significantly damaged. Work was completed in May 1925 and mining commenced. The mine was in operation until 2004.