PLYMOUTH, N.S. – A quarter of a century has passed since a methane-gas explosion killed 26 men at the Westray Mine in Plymouth, and memorial services across Nova Scotia will pay respect to the victims of the tragedy on May 9, according to a news release from the province’s Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB). Among the planned events are a daytime Memorial March and Service and an evening Memorial Service at the Westray Miners Memorial Park in New Glasgow; the day event features remarks by N.S. Labour Minister Kelly Regan. At the Museum of Industry in Stellarton, there will be a Celebration of Life reception at 8 p.m., with appearances by WCB CEO Stuart MacLean and representatives from the United Steelworkers. “Each fatality is a human story – of loss, of tragedy, of heartache,” MacLean said in a media statement on May 5. “Each is a preventable death. Each is a person who should be here today, but is not, because something happened at a workplace.” The tragedy led to the eventual adoption of the Westray Law, a provision in the federal Criminal Code that calls for criminal prosecution for negligence after workplace fatalities.