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28 March 2024

All 29 trapped New Zealand miners dead: police

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By AFP

All 29 miners trapped underground in a New Zealand mine for five days are believed to be dead following a second explosion in the Pike River Coal mine, police said on Wednesday.

"It is our belief that no one has survived and everyone will have perished. This is one of the most tragic things I have had to do as a police office," police superintendent Gary Knowles told reporters.

EARLIER: Toxic gas dims hopes for missing NZ miners

High levels of toxic gases were found Wednesday near where 29 men remain trapped in a New Zealand mine, in the latest blow to rescue attempts as anger builds among families of the missing.

For the first time police also conceded they may never reach the miners.

"The samples are off the limit," said police superintendent Gary Knowles who delivered the grim news to the families before addressing a press conference.

There has been no contact with the miners since the explosion six days ago, and families had pinned their hopes on good news from the bore hole drilled over the past two days through a hillside to where the men are believed to be.

"As we expected, but not as families hoped, the air that came out from the hole was extremely high with carbon monoxide, very high in methane and fairly low in oxygen," Pike River mine chief Peter Whittall said.

"It's making their hopes diminish and making it more difficult for them to hold out that hope that all 29 of those guys are waiting for us as we hoped on day one.

"I think we're all coming to that realisation now," he added, but he would not comment on whether the gas levels were survivable.

When asked whether it would ever be safe for rescue workers to enter the mine, Knowles said "it may never reach that point".

"Whilst I can understand the frustration (of the families), we are doing everything possible to go underground. Obviously over time, hopes diminish."

As the rescue operation at the Pike River colliery entered its sixth day without emergency crews receiving the all clear to go underground, relatives criticised the delays.

Lawrie Drew, whose son Zen, 21, is trapped down the mine, said the families wanted confirmation about the fate of the men and felt they were being given a "PR spiel" by authorities.

"We don't want bullshit, we want answers, we're sick of these meetings," he told reporters after attending the families' latest twice-daily briefing with rescue coordinators.

He added: "We want confirmation, that's about all we want."

Geoff Valli, whose 62-year-old brother Keith is also among the missing, said that locals in the remote west coast community wanted rescuers to enter the mine.

"I know pretty well from the talk around town, the local guys that they're prepared to go and do it... It's time for men to do what men have got to do," he told public radio.

But police, who who have described the outlook for the missing men as "bleak", said the mine remained too dangerous to enter because a gas build-up meant rescuers could trigger another explosion.

Rescuers have two robots at the mine, and were scheduled Wednesday to take delivery of a third, which they hope will give a clearer picture of conditions underground.

The first robot, restarted after breaking down on Tuesday, had reached a kilometre into the tunnel and found the helmet of Russell Smith, one of two miners to make their way out after the explosion.

Whittall said the headlight on the helmet was "very encouragingly" still working, which was positive for the miners underground "if they're still there".

Authorities on Tuesday released chilling video footage which showed a powerful, sustained explosion at the mine on Friday.

The miners - 24 New Zealanders, two Britons, two Australians and a South African - have not been heard from since the explosion tore through the remote South Island colliery.

The security video released by the Pike River Coal company showed stone dust being blasted for 52 seconds out of the shaft's entrance - some 2.5 kilometres (1.5 miles) from the explosion and where the missing men were located.