Gases prevent NZ mine blast rescue
Source: Agencies |
November 21, 2010, Sunday
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Print Edition
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ANGUISHED relatives voiced frustration as poisonous gases prevented rescuers from entering a New Zealand coal mine yesterday, a day after a powerful blast left 29 workers missing underground.
"If I had my way I'd be down there, I'd go into the mine myself," said Laurie Drew, whose 21-year-old son, Zen, is one of the missing men.
Rescue organizers said the level of methane and carbon monoxide was still too high to send a crew into the Pike River Mine. Two miners reached the surface after Friday's gas explosion, but there has been no word from 29 others. Police said the miners, aged 17 to 62, are believed to be about 2 kilometers down the main tunnel.
"Unfortunately it's just not as simple as putting on a mask and gown and rushing in there," the police search controller, superintendent Gary Knowles, told TV One. "It does pose a danger to those guys underground and ... a danger to the staff going in."
After a day of monitoring, air-quality tests showed that gas levels had not dropped sufficiently and Knowles said the rescuers would remain on standby until the gases were next checked early today.
He was confident that the 16 mine employees and 13 contract miners had survived.
"This is a search-and-rescue operation, and we are going to bring these guys home," Knowles said.
The blast was most likely caused by coal gas igniting, Pike River Mine Ltd chief executive Peter Whittall said.
Electricity in the mine went out shortly before the explosion and that failure may have caused ventilation problems and contributed to a buildup of gas. The power outage continued to frustrate efforts yesterday to pump in fresh air and make it safe for rescuers, though Whittall said air was flowing freely through a compressed air line damaged in the explosion.
"We have kept those compressors going and we are pumping fresh air into the mine somewhere. It is quite conceivable there is a large number of men sitting around the end of that open pipe waiting and wondering why we are taking our time getting to them," Whittall said.
A working phone line to the bottom of the mine, however, had rung unanswered.
The two dazed and slightly injured miners stumbled to the surface hours after the blast shot up the mine's 108-meter-long ventilation shaft. The men were taken to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries and were being interviewed to determine what happened. Whittall said one of two men had used the phone to contact the surface before escaping.
The explosion occurred about 3:45pm on Friday. Video from the scene showed blackened trees and light smoke billowing from the top of the rugged mountain where the mine is located, near Atarau on South Island. It is New Zealand's largest underground coal mine.
Families of the missing men gathered at a Red Cross hall in nearby Greymouth yesterday, and were being briefed hourly on rescue efforts. Most have declined to talk to reporters, as have the two men who made it out of the mine.
Australian and British citizens are among the missing men, and Australia has sent a team of mine rescue experts to assist the operation.
"If I had my way I'd be down there, I'd go into the mine myself," said Laurie Drew, whose 21-year-old son, Zen, is one of the missing men.
Rescue organizers said the level of methane and carbon monoxide was still too high to send a crew into the Pike River Mine. Two miners reached the surface after Friday's gas explosion, but there has been no word from 29 others. Police said the miners, aged 17 to 62, are believed to be about 2 kilometers down the main tunnel.
"Unfortunately it's just not as simple as putting on a mask and gown and rushing in there," the police search controller, superintendent Gary Knowles, told TV One. "It does pose a danger to those guys underground and ... a danger to the staff going in."
After a day of monitoring, air-quality tests showed that gas levels had not dropped sufficiently and Knowles said the rescuers would remain on standby until the gases were next checked early today.
He was confident that the 16 mine employees and 13 contract miners had survived.
"This is a search-and-rescue operation, and we are going to bring these guys home," Knowles said.
The blast was most likely caused by coal gas igniting, Pike River Mine Ltd chief executive Peter Whittall said.
Electricity in the mine went out shortly before the explosion and that failure may have caused ventilation problems and contributed to a buildup of gas. The power outage continued to frustrate efforts yesterday to pump in fresh air and make it safe for rescuers, though Whittall said air was flowing freely through a compressed air line damaged in the explosion.
"We have kept those compressors going and we are pumping fresh air into the mine somewhere. It is quite conceivable there is a large number of men sitting around the end of that open pipe waiting and wondering why we are taking our time getting to them," Whittall said.
A working phone line to the bottom of the mine, however, had rung unanswered.
The two dazed and slightly injured miners stumbled to the surface hours after the blast shot up the mine's 108-meter-long ventilation shaft. The men were taken to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries and were being interviewed to determine what happened. Whittall said one of two men had used the phone to contact the surface before escaping.
The explosion occurred about 3:45pm on Friday. Video from the scene showed blackened trees and light smoke billowing from the top of the rugged mountain where the mine is located, near Atarau on South Island. It is New Zealand's largest underground coal mine.
Families of the missing men gathered at a Red Cross hall in nearby Greymouth yesterday, and were being briefed hourly on rescue efforts. Most have declined to talk to reporters, as have the two men who made it out of the mine.
Australian and British citizens are among the missing men, and Australia has sent a team of mine rescue experts to assist the operation.
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