PORTUGAL: Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard offers help to miners trapped undergorund in New Zealand

Record ID: 559528

  • Title: PORTUGAL: Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard offers help to miners trapped undergorund in New Zealand
  • Date: 21st November 2010
  • Summary: LISBON, PORTUGAL (NOVEMBER 20, 2010) (REUTERS) FLAGS VARIOUS OF AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER JULIA GILLARD ARRIVING (SOUNDBITE) (English) AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER JULIA GILLARD SAYING: "Our hearts go out to them, our hearts go out particularly to the families and friends who are waiting for news and waiting so anxiously. We know our New Zealand colleagues are doing everything they can to affect a rescue. We've offered assistance as Australia, and some of our personnel will be assisting. So I think everybody's thoughts and prayers are there. We're waiting for further news but it could be sometime yet." GILLARD WALKS AWAY FROM MEDIA
  • Embargoed: 6th December 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Portugal
  • Country: Portugal
  • Topics: International Relations,Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
  • Reuters ID: LVA9JEXDQXHM9NQQ0JP4UFXBF6YO
  • Story Text: Australia on Saturday (November 20) offered help and support to New Zealand where 29 miners in a remote coal mine have been trapped following an explosion.
    The Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, told reporters on the second day of a NATO summit in Portugal which is attended by the 48 countries fighting in Afghanistan and Afghan President Hamid Karzai. They participants will discuss plans to start transitioning security responsibility to Afghans
    "Our hearts go out to them, our hearts go out particularly to the miners and their families and friends who are waiting for news and waiting so anxiously. I know our New Zealand colleagues are doing everything they can to affect a rescue. We've offered assistance from Australia and some of our personnel will be assisting so I think everybody's thoughts and prayers are there. We're waiting for further news but it could be sometime yet," said Julia Gilliard.
    Mine owner Pike River Coal revised the number of miners underground from 27 to 29. Rescue teams preparing to enter the mine, are waiting for an all-clear that the mine is safe to enter.
    Police sought to give a morale-boost to family and friends of the trapped miners, who include several Britons and Australians, vowing to get them all out safely.
    Methane gas is a common danger in coal-mining and is highly combustable. Rescuers were expected to take several hours on Saturday to assure themselves that there was no further risk of explosion before going into the mine's main shaft.
    Two men escaped the mine in the moments after the blast on Friday afternoon, walking out of the main shaft, a horizontal tunnel burrowed more than 2km into the mountainside. But they were unable to give rescuers the location of the others.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register