Just before 10am at the village's iron works, five men died and 13 were injured when the bell of the number one furnace exploded and fell onto the engine house, resulting in hot iron raining down on the workmen.

Two local men, David Nicholson and William Keenan, were killed instantly.

The explosion caused a stream of molten metal to pour down in front of the furnace, seriously injuring a number of men.

They scarcely had any warning and it seemed too late to reach safety, their only means of escape was to crawl on hand and knees over the red hot coke and ironstone.

Ambulance men from the Great Northern Railway depot close by were quickly at the scene and the injured were taken by train to Leeds Infirmary.

An account given by those first at the scene said that William Keenan must have realised that an explosion was inevitable as he was discovered with his arms still shielding his face. David Nicholson's injuries were so severe that his body could only be identified by a new pair of boots he was wearing.

The injured Arthur Tyldesley said that just before the explosion he had left one of the furnaces and was in the number one weigh cabin when he heard a "terrific crack". He looked out and a lump of something red hot hit him on the head, splitting it open.

He said: "There was coke and metal flying around everywhere. On my hands and knees I crawled over the red hot metal and took shelter under a coke wagon."

The inquest into the deaths of Mr Nicholson and Mr Keenan was opened two days later by county coroner, Mr P Maitland, at the Great Northern Railway Hotel in the village.

During the inquest, the works' assistant manager Mr Thomas Hoskinson gave a demonstration of how the furnace worked, explaining to the jury that the number one furnace, where the blast occurred, was 75ft high and was filled with material-lime, ironstone and coke.

He said that the furnaces were liable to explode when there was a mixture of gas and air and the 'bell' kept out the air. But if the material was to fall suddenly then some of the air could escape into the upper part of the furnace without being converted into gas.

"That's the only cause which is likely to produce an explosion," he said, adding that the furnace, built in 1902, was relatively new and the men had never complained about its workings.

An expert theory, given by Mr A S Keith, assistant works manager at the Leeds Steel Works, said: "The cause of the explosion was due to the taking off of the blast to 'check' the furnace, which caused a slight vacuum and therefore reversed the action of gases. Because of this an explosion takes place."

He added that more than 200 tonnes of material must have been blown out.

The jury took just 20 minutes to reach a verdict that: "The two men were killed by shock by an accidental explosion at the furnace."

Another inquest was held afterwards following the deaths of Alfred Warren, George Billings and Fred Paver, at Leeds Infirmary.