Second Mine Blast In New Zealand Coal Mine - No Survivors.
64 replies, posted
[img]http://www.3news.co.nz/Portals/0-Articles/187811/pike-river-family.jpg?width=300[/img]
[quote][b]BREAKING NEWS:[/b] A second explosion has blasted the Pike River coal mine, with none of the 29 miners able to survive it, officials say.
Distraught family members left a scheduled briefing a short time ago, only about 10 minutes after it had started and many of them in tears.
Lawrie Drew, the father of trapped miner Zen Drew, said officials had told the families that there had been a second explosion.
The miners had been underground since a first massive gas explosion on Friday.
Investigation head Superintendent Gary Knowles said the large explosion happened about 2.37pm and they were not expecting anyone to get out alive.
They were now going into recovery mode. It was one of the most horrific things he has had to deal with as a policeman.
"We had to break the news to the family and they are extremely distraught.
"I was at the mine myself when the explosion occurred. The blast was horrific. Just as severe as the first blast - and we are now moving into a recovery mode."
It's understood a recovery team has entered the mine.
Grey District mayor Tony Kokshoorn broke down as he left the family briefing.
"We thought we were going to get some good news," he said outside.
"They told us there was a massive explosion and there was no way there were any survivors."
He said family members dropped to the floor after hearing the news, with many angry at how police had handled the operation.
He said the irony was that police were now sending in a team into the mine.
"It's just gut-wrenching. This is our darkest hour."
[b]EARLIER TODAY[/b]
Earlier today, Police Commissioner Howard Broad had issued his most bleak outlook yet on the trapped Pike River coal miners.
Hot air and gas had rushed up a bore shaft from the mine as robots captured new footage, including a miner's helmet with a light still on.
A fire continued to burn inside the mine, and abandoned mines on the West Coast can burn decades after closing to mining.
Broad had suggested it could take "quite a long time" before the environment down the mine was safe to enter.
''And that, of course, makes the outlook for those who were down in the mine a very bleak one.
[b]ANGER GROWING[/b]
Prior to the second explosion this afternoon, the brother of the oldest miner trapped at Pike River had said it was time to send a rescue team into the mine, no matter the risks.
Geoff Valli, brother of 62-year-old Keith Valli, told Radio New Zealand this morning he'd had a "gutsful" of hearing the same excuses from police day after day. Police had been warning of the volitile environment in the mine.
Speaking quietly and with his voice breaking, he said he didn't feel they could wait any longer.
"There isn't the time. I know what I'm asking other guys to do. I know the talk around town, there a lot of guys prepared to go in and do it," he said this morning.
"They’re not taking their mothers in there to rescue guys. It's time for men to do what men have got to do," Valli said.
He said he would "feel terrible" if another explosion happened but that was just as bad as not knowing.
"How are those rescue guys going to feel if no one goes in and has a look? To have that on their minds? That they never had a crack, never even had a crack."
Daniel Rockhouse, one of the two men to escape the mine, said they had been told it was "pointless" for rescue teams to enter the mine "because if they do they're going to get killed".
"They need to take the right precautions and they're just doing what they can, you know. There's nothing else they can do."[/quote]
Source: [url]http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/pike-river-mine-explosion/4381393/Second-mine-blast-no-survivors[/url]
I feel sick right now.
That is terrible
:smith:
One of the miners was just 17.
:saddowns:
Always hate it when deaths occur from mine disasters.
sucks big time, being trapped for 5 days then a explosion, and if u didnt die from explosion you are either crushed or something :(.
R.i.p miners
wow, so now that the miners are dead a team is being sent in now? makes total sense.
Wow. Thats one unlucky crew :(
[editline]23rd November 2010[/editline]
[QUOTE=Sleepy Head;26261863]wow, so now that the miners are dead a team is being sent in now? makes total sense.[/QUOTE]
If you lost someone in a disaster, wouldn't you want their body recovered for burial?
[QUOTE=Sleepy Head;26261863]wow, so now that the miners are dead a team is being sent in now? makes total sense.[/QUOTE]
Someone needs to inspect the mine, and collect the remains...
[editline]1:46[/editline]
:ninja:
that's not the point. dangers are still probably just as high as before the second blast, and yet they send in a team to recover their remains? why couldn't they have sent in a team beforehand instead of playing a stupid ass waiting game to to gamble the lives of 29 people and see if the gas levels could have went down? rescue teams are supposed to risk it all, what's the point of having them if they're not gonna do their job?
[QUOTE=Sleepyhead54;26261968]that's not the point. dangers are still probably just as high as before the second blast, and yet they send in a team to recover their remains? why couldn't they have sent in a team beforehand instead of playing a stupid ass waiting game to to gamble the lives of 29 people and see if the gas levels could have went down? rescue teams are supposed to risk it all, what's the point of having them if they're not gonna do their job?[/QUOTE]
You can't rescue people if you don't know they're in danger.
[QUOTE=ExplodingGuy;26261977]You can't rescue people if you don't know they're in danger.[/QUOTE]
dude what. 29 miners trapped, with the potential of a gas explosion. how are they NOT in danger?
What he's saying is there's no actual way to let help know "oh, well we're in trouble". I assume that they send in someone to go look it over when they don't get a response back.
In other news, miners trapped in Chile.
[QUOTE=Ridge;26261892]
If you lost someone in a disaster, wouldn't you want their body recovered for burial?[/QUOTE]
They're already buried :/
Call me heartless, but this seems like a giant waste of resources, it's digging up bodies so you can re-bury them. It's not like we sent a crew back to the titanic to gather up all the bodies so that we can bury them on land. I mean if they were paying for it with their own money I reckon I'd be fine with it, but I'm assuming they're using government/company funds to get the bodies back?
[QUOTE=Sleepyhead54;26261968]that's not the point. dangers are still probably just as high as before the second blast, and yet they send in a team to recover their remains? why couldn't they have sent in a team beforehand instead of playing a stupid ass waiting game to to gamble the lives of 29 people and see if the gas levels could have went down? rescue teams are supposed to risk it all, what's the point of having them if they're not gonna do their job?[/QUOTE]
This isn't a fucking movie, sending more people down there to rescue them would have been a suicide mission.
[editline]23rd November 2010[/editline]
[QUOTE=FunnyBunny;26262535]They're already buried :/
Call me heartless, but this seems like a giant waste of resources, it's digging up bodies so you can re-bury them. It's not like we sent a crew back to the titanic to gather up all the bodies so that we can bury them on land. I mean if they were paying for it with their own money I reckon I'd be fine with it, but I'm assuming they're using government/company funds to get the bodies back?[/QUOTE]
I think they also might be going down there to investigate more into how it happened..
Should have stuck to Minecraft.
May they rest in pieces- "ruptured, decomposing pieces."
Had a feeling that they wouldn't survive from the start, their chances seemed very slim after the first explosion.
R.I.P
Still can't believe one of the miners killed was just 17 years old.
[QUOTE=FunnyBunny;26262535]They're already buried :/
Call me heartless, but this seems like a giant waste of resources, it's digging up bodies so you can re-bury them. It's not like we sent a crew back to the titanic to gather up all the bodies so that we can bury them on land. I mean if they were paying for it with their own money I reckon I'd be fine with it, but I'm assuming they're using government/company funds to get the bodies back?[/QUOTE]
Try saying that when you know your loved ones are lying mangled several hundred feet under an unremarkable rock, disrespecting any and all religious beliefs they may have held. I agree the world has other problems money needs to be spent on, but you need to give the families somewhere to mourn, it's the only thing they can do for them now.
I for one would only be able to grieve if my family had a respectable resting spot. Knowing that they're all bunched together would depress me for the rest of my life.
[QUOTE=angelangel;26260282]One of the miners was just 17.
:saddowns:[/QUOTE]
It was his first day on the job too..
Just wondering what is the age limit, because 17 seems way to young.
[QUOTE=-n3o-;26263302]Just wondering what is the age limit, because 17 seems way to young.[/QUOTE]
Theres no real minimum age to work, if you are under 15 you need parents permission. And it's up to the employer.
Really sad.
[QUOTE=MrEndangered;26263237]Try saying that when you know your loved ones are lying mangled several hundred feet under an unremarkable rock, disrespecting any and all religious beliefs they may have held. I agree the world has other problems money needs to be spent on, but you need to give the families somewhere to mourn, it's the only thing they can do for them now.
I for one would only be able to grieve if my family had a respectable resting spot. Knowing that they're all bunched together would depress me for the rest of my life.[/QUOTE]
That said, it has to be within reason. I doubt the government would fund an expedition to somewhere in interplanetary space to recover my floating carcass for example. They should be weighing the cost of the recovery attempt against the cost of saving several people's lives by injecting the money into the health system, something I doubt they have had any time to do. I know if I was dead down a mine I'd rather the money be spent on more proactive things. But then who is paying for the rescue/recovery? The NZ taxpayer? Or the mines insurers?
what a fucking awful place to wait to die, and then to die
[QUOTE=Boeing787;26263467]Theres no real minimum age to work, if you are under 15 you need parents permission. And it's up to the employer.[/QUOTE]
wow, that needs to be change I think.
I hope it was quick and painless :(
[QUOTE=Boeing787;26263467]Theres no real minimum age to work, if you are under 15 you need parents permission. And it's up to the employer.[/QUOTE]
Minimum age is 15, I think, regardless of parental permission.
[QUOTE=Godzillarr;26263287]It was his first day on the job too..[/QUOTE]
And he was supposed to start the next Monday, but he was too eager to get to work.
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