ANXIOUS FAMILIES of miners trapped in a mine in New Zealand were yesterday told to prepare for the worst, as police acknowledged for the first time that they were preparing for “loss of life”.
Last night a borehole into the mine where 29 men have been trapped for four days was nearing completion, after explosive gases prevented an earlier rescue.
Authorities were finishing drilling the 15cm-wide shaft into the mine tunnel, providing a better idea of the air quality inside the area where miners were believed to be trapped by last Friday’s blast.
Two Australians, two Britons and one South African are among those trapped in the Pike River mine in Greymouth in the South Island after the explosion, which is believed to have been caused by a methane gas leak.
“We still remain optimistic; we’re still keeping an open mind,” said police superintendent Gary Knowles. “But we are planning for all outcomes, and as part of this process we’re planning for the possible loss of life as a result of what’s occurred underground.” Two workers stumbled out of the mine within hours of the explosion on Friday, but there has been no contact with the missing 29. A phone line deep inside the mine has rung unanswered for days.
At a press conference, the Pike River Coal chief executive, Peter Whittall, gave an idea of the conditions in which the men are trapped. The only food they would have had access to over the past three days – if they could reach the break areas where it was stored – was what they had brought in for their shift, although fresh water was plentiful. The miners’ cap lamps, which only have a 24-hour battery life, were likely to be flat by now, he added. “It will be quite hot . . . there’s not a lot of ventilation down there,” he said.
The New Zealand Herald reported yesterday that 135 metres of the 162m tunnel to the mine had been completed, but half-hourly tests on accessible areas still showed the air was too toxic for rescuers to enter.
Meanwhile, all 29 workers trapped in a flooded coal mine in China's southwestern province of Sichuan have been taken to safety, ending a daylong rescue mission, China Central Television reported. The miners were wrapped in quilts by paramedics as they emerged from the pit to the applause of a crowd gathered near the entrance, the state broadcaster showed. Rescuers took about an hour between pulling out the first and last worker. – ( Guardianservice/Bloomberg)