Attempts to rescue 29 men trapped in a New Zealand coal mine suffered a new setback on Tuesday after a robot sent into the main shaft broke down, as hopes faded that any of the miners have survived.
Rescuers have not entered the mine, dug into the side of a mountain range, since an explosion ripped through the colliery on Friday afternoon, fearing that it is now a smouldering powder keg of explosive gases, that could ignite at any time.
The trapped miners include two Britons, two Australians and a South African.
With the break-down of the robot, family and friends vented their frustration with emotional outbursts, as they faced an agonising wait for rescuers to complete more tests of air quality before they could finally enter. “It’s getting worse. Frustration, anxiety, anger, it’s all surfacing … it’s getting to crisis point with people’s feelings,” Laurie Drew, whose son Zen (21) is one of the trapped, told Reuters. Media reports said the camera-equipped robot sent into the mine had short-circuited after getting wet in the shaft.
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key told Parliament “our thoughts right now are with the miners families and the sense of hopelessness they must be feeling”.
“We hope and pray that the missing men are alive and well, but given we have not had contact with the men for four days, the situation remains grave.” There have been no signs of life since Friday’s explosion at the Pike River mine, on the rugged west coast of New Zealand’s South Island. Aged 17 to 62, the trapped men each carried an emergency breathing kit, which would have given up to an hour’s fresh air, and only the food and water they would have taken in with them for their shift.
“This is a very serious situation and the longer it goes on, hopes fade,” police district commander Gary Knowles said, admitting there had been outbursts from family members when told of the latest setback with the robot. “We have to be realistic.”
Officials have said it is possible the men, who were working in different areas of the mine but within several hundred metres of each other, could be huddled around supplies of clean air awaiting rescue. But that has looked less likely as every day passes without any rescuers being able to enter the mine.
A 15cm-wide shaft is being drilled through 162m of rock, with the aim of breaking through to the main shaft close to the blast site sometime around 3pm (2am GMT). Rescuers will monitor the air quality from the hole and lower cameras and sound devices to check for signs of life.
Church vigils
Knowles said the robot broke down about 550m along the main shaft, and would be left where it was because it was too dangerous to retrieve it.
Rescue teams were also now using seismic devices, which could detect if any survivors were trying to signal to rescuers by tapping on the rock or pipes, but nothing had been heard.
The head of the rescue operation said conditions in the pit were “hostile”, but the teams were also hurting over the delays. “I can’t express the frustration that our guys feel at not being able to deploy underground: It’s heart wrenching,” said Trevor Watts. Vigils are being held at churches in the town of 13 000 people, where coal is a mainstay of the local economy. “Greymouth is a tight knit community and this incident has hit them hard,” Salvation Army officer Charles Prattley said. School children have also tied small, yellow ribbons on lamp posts, as a symbol of hope, and some of the shops have large messages of support displayed in their windows.
Two escaped from the mine after the blast with moderate injuries but were unable to help rescuers pinpoint where the other men were likely to be trapped in the mine dug about 2,3km into a mountain range. – Reuters