NEW ZEALAND: Relatives of miners trapped at Pike River leave a briefing by authorities with teary eyes

Record ID: 772060

  • Title: NEW ZEALAND: Relatives of miners trapped at Pike River leave a briefing by authorities with teary eyes
  • Date: 21st November 2010
  • Summary: GREYMOUTH, NEW ZEALAND (NOVEMBER 20, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS VIEW OF TOWN SIGN OF PIKE RIVER COAL MINE PEOPLE OUTSIDE PIKE RIVER COAL MINE OFFICE BUILDING MEN COMFORTING EACH OTHER WOMAN CRYING WOMEN WALKING PAST, COMFORTING EACH OTHER (SOUNDBITE) (English) GREYMOUTH MAYOR TONY KOKSHOORN SAYING: "All the families are listening tentatively to any news they can grab,
  • Embargoed: 6th December 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: New Zealand
  • Country: New Zealand
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes,Industry
  • Reuters ID: LVAA6D723HRTEWNY9TWUAN50T6N9
  • Story Text: The mayor of Greymouth told Reuters there was frustration among relatives of the Pike River coal miners following a briefing by authorities on Saturday (November 20).
    New Zealand rescuers had still not made contact with 29 trapped miners almost 24 hours after an explosion ripped through the remote colliery dug into the side of a mountain.
    The mine's owner said the search for the miners had been delayed while authorities ensured it was safe for rescuers to enter. Poor weather was also hampering access to the ventilation shafts, adding to the agonising wait for family and friends of the miners, who range in age from 17 to 62.
    Relatives of the miners left the company's office in the town visibly upset.
    "All the families are listening tentatively to any news they can grab, but you can see on their faces there is absolute frustration at the moment. There is anguish on their faces, the body language is showing real despair at the moment. You can see it building all the time, and this is where it really gets tough for everyone. It is the communities out there want to help in any way they can but the only way can help at the moment is have a search and rescue team in the mine and at the same time get the miners out. But that's all been stopped at the moment because of the gas levels," the town's mayor Tony Kokshoorn said.
    "It is a tough tough call but they are being honest and they are trying to actually relay it how it is to the public and public is showing with their tears at the moment it's gone up a level now to a really really tough twenty-four hours coming up," he added.
    The explosion was likely to have been caused by methane gas, Pike River Coal chief executive Peter Whittall said earlier in the day.
    The air quality tests from the samples taken this morning were inconclusive, Whittall told reporters, adding that testing was continuing.
    The accident follows the ordeal of 33 Chilean miners trapped in an underground chamber for two months before their dramatic rescue last month, when they were hoisted one by one to safety through a hole drilled 700 metres (2,300 feet) through rock.
    Whittall said the New Zealand mine gave rescuers an advantage over the Chilean situation, given the Pike River colliery's main shaft was a horizontal tunnel, enabling easy access by foot or heavy vehicle.
    The mine is about 2.3 kilometres (1.4 miles) long, with the trapped men believed to be most of the way inside. There are a number of ventilation shafts which climb vertically at least 100 metres to the surface to provide fresh air.
    The explosion is believed to have occurred about 1.5 kilometres along the mine shaft.
    Two men escaped the mine in the moments after the blast on Friday, walking out of the main shaft, but they were unable to give rescuers the location of the others.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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