Jacques Chirac. Ceremony for the victims of the Liévin disaster, 1974 (b/w photo)

Liévin is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. The discovery of a coal deposit in 1857 disrupted the local economy and Liévin became a mining town. Its population exploded and reached 25,698 inhabitants in 1914. On 27 December, a flash of wind in the 6-furrows coal mine of Pit 3, known as Saint-Amé, killed 42 people in Liévin and marked the closure of the site. It was a well belonging to the Compagnie des Mines de Lens. An official tribute ceremony to the victims took place outside the town hall of Liévin on Tuesday, December 31, 1974, in the presence of the Prime Minister, Jacques CHIRAC, and members of the government.