The breakdown of a rescue robot and the release of video footage showing the huge power of a blast that ripped through a New Zealand coal mine, leaving 29 men missing, sent hopes for their survival plummeting yesterday.
Relatives clinging to optimism were shown the security camera footage of Friday’s explosion by officials, who said afterward it had a “sobering” effect on them. In an address to parliament, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key warned the public to prepare for the worst.
Nothing has been heard from the 29 workers who were deep in the Pike River mine at the time of the blast, believed caused by a buildup of explosive gases such as methane.
PHOTO: AFP
Frustrated rescuers have been prevented from entering the mine because testing shows toxic and potentially explosive gases are still swirling through the underground tunnels, and a heat source believed to be a smoldering fire is also apparent.
Police Minister Judith Collins said everybody shared the frustration of the missing miners’ families that a rescue had not yet started.
“The situation is bleak, it is grave, but we can’t put people underground to risk their lives,” she said.
Key also expressed pessimism over the men’s survival.
“We hope and pray that the missing men are alive and well,” Key said in a somber address to parliament. “But given we have not had contact with the men for nearly four days, the situation remains grave. Although we must stay optimistic, police are now planning for the possible loss of life.”
The security footage shows a wall of white dust surging from the mine entrance and small stones rolling past for about 50 seconds as the force of the blast rips out of the mine.
Pike River mine chief executive Peter Whittall said the dust from the blast was blown across a nearby valley and part of the blast wave shot up the mine’s ventilation shaft, tearing off vents at the top, hundreds of meters above.
Whittall was among officials who showed the footage to family members of the missing men, and said it had been “quite sobering” for them.
A bomb-disposal robot sent underground to learn the fate of the 29 workers short-circuited and failed yesterday after it was hit by a water fall — another setback to hopes for the men’s survival.
Police superintendent Gary Knowles, the head of the rescue operation, said replacement robots were being flown in from the New Zealand army and West Australia.
“Toxicity is still too unstable to send rescue teams in,” Knowles told reporters.
“This is a very serious situation and the longer it goes on, hopes fade, and we have to be realistic. We will not go underground until the environment is safe,” Knowles said.
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