No rescue at Pike River mine yet...

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  No rescue at Pike River mine yet...

  
  

  Not much is really happening at the Pike River mine at Greymouth on New Zealand's West Coast.

  Preparations for rescuing the 29 trapped miners has been made, Six five man rescue teams are ready at a moments notice. A specialist team from Australia has arrived in Christchurch. A fleet of ambulance are parked to be able to take survivors to Greymouth Base Hospital, or over the mountains to Christchurch City Hospital. Hospital staff are at the ready. Family members are becoming stressed out with waiting.

  Greymouth is filling up with relatives, media members, well-wishers and the rescue personnel.

  But the dangerous levels of poisonous gases , such as methane and ethane, are still too high. Levels are checked by helicopter every thirty minutes during daylight hours. The police chief in the area refuses to allow rescuers into the mine until it is safe to do so.It has now been over 48 hours since the mine explosion. Please read the news story below:

  "Trapped miners of all ages and backgrounds are among the victims.
  The backgrounds of the missing miners - not all of whom have been identified to date - are as wide and varied as their ages, hailing from as far abroad as Scotland and South Africa.

  Blair Sims - A talented rugby league player, Blair is the West Coast player of the year for the past two season. He is the husband of a young wife and father to two young children.

  Ben Rockhouse - Aged in his 20s, Ben is the brother of Daniel Rockhouse who was one of the two that walked out after the explosion yesterday.

  Michael Monk - Michael is the son of Paroa Hotel owner Bernie Monk who is a local legend, and part of the well known Monk family. Michael is a keen rugby player for Blaketown and West Coast

  Joseph Dunbar - It is understood the day of the explosion was 17-year-old Joseph's first day working underground at the mine.

  Milton Osborne - Milton is serving his second term as a Grey District Councillor for the Eastern Ward and lives in the Grey Valley. Milton is a contractor at the Pike River mine.

  Malcolm Campbell - A 25-year-old Scotsman from St Andrews, Malcolm is due to marry his Kiwi fiancee Amanda Shields on December 18.

  Peter Rodger - Peter moved from Scotland to New Zealand two years ago to be closer to his mother and sister, and lives with his Kiwi girlfriend Dianne Morris.

  A former oil rig worker, the 40-year-old made the switch to mining after sustaining a leg injury in the North Sea.

  Koos Jonker - The wife of South African Koos Jonker, Christelle, left a moving message on her facebook page thanking people for their support and asking to "keep on believing" her husband is OK.

  Josh Ufer - The girlfriend of Queenslander Josh, 27, is due to give birth in May. Josh is working at the mine as an underground drill supervisor.

  Zen Drew - Zen is a building apprentice for a company contracted to Pike River Coal. Laurie Drew, the father of 20-year-old Zen, has voiced his concerns about how slow the rescue is.

  Alan Dixon - Alan, 60, is one of the oldest of the 29 miners caught up in the disaster. He made the call to his partner in Runanga just after the blast.

  Brendon Palmer - Second generation miner Brendon was walking into the 2.5km-deep tunnel when he passed his father Marty Palmer, who had just finished a shift at 8am on Friday morning. Marty said he had reported gas problems when he finished his shift.

  Terry Kitchin - Runanga man Terry had apparently finished his shift prior to the explosion but opted to do two hours overtime.

  Kane Nieper - Kane is married to the daughter of a local contractor and has a young family.

  Peter O'Neill - The Runanga man is reported by the Otago Daily Times to have been involved in the rescue of miners trapped in floods at Black Reef mine two years ago and his brother is involved in the mines rescue team for this rescue.

  Chris Duggan - Runanga

  Conrad Adams - Greymouth

  Glen Cruise - Cobden"

  Acknowledgements: NZ Herald

  http://huttriver.blog.co.uk

http://huttriver.blog.co.uk

Image via WikipediaFamilies gathering outside the site of the underground mine explosion at the Pike River on the West Coast, NZ...


Families are gathering outside the site of an underground mine explosion at the Pike River on the West Coast this evening, where 27 miners remain unaccounted for.The reported fatality has not yet been confirmed here just after 9pm  Friday evening NZ time,

At least two people have now emerged from the mine, following the explosion. They have been taken to Westport DHB with moderate injuries
.
The two miners indicated three of their colleagues were also on their way to the surface.
Some media were reporting one fatality but West Coast DHB could not confirm the death.

Pike River chief executive Peter Whittall said he had not received any reports of fatalities.

He described the safety conditions in the mine as excellent and said the trapped miners had safety equipment.

"Every worker carried a safety rescue device at all times including a breathing apparatus with oxygen," Mr Whittall said.

"The men are between two and two and a half kilometres inside, but because the mine drills into the side of the mountain they are probably only 120 below the surface.

"The issue for the rescue team will be to ensure that the ventilation underground is adequate for them to go in and find the men."

He said it was only speculation that the men were trapped because they were trained to go to a place of safety and to wait.

Blast rips through mine
West Coast Mine Rescue workers were preparing to enter the mine, 50km northeast of Greymouth, around 8pm.
An afternoon shift of miners and some management were underground at the Pike River Coal Mine near Greymouth when an explosion occurred around 3.45pm.

Earlier, Mr Whittall said 27 workers remained missing - 15 employees and 12 contractors.

Emergency services are at the mine's processing plant in Atarau, halfway between Greymouth and Reefton.
Six ambulances were on the scene, and three rescue helicopters were being sent from Nelson, Greymouth and Christchurch.

St John ambulance has more than 20 staff at the scene at the moment and is sending additional staff from Christchurch.

Police said they could not give full details yet but 36 tags belonging to miners were still hanging on the board at the mine.

"Those miners have not yet been heard from," said police spokeswoman Barbara Dunn
.
Police say there is concern that ventilation inside the mine shaft may be compromised by the power outage.
Loader driver blown 1500m

There was a power outage at the mine this afternoon, and an electrician went in to investigate about 3.50pm. He discovered a loader driver who had been blown off his machine about 1500m into the mine shaft, she said.
He was one of the two men to emerge from the mine.

Two workers had emerged from the mine, but they had been working in a different area.

The two miners escaped by walking two kilometres in a valley inside the mine, climbing up inside the mountain. They eventually emerged through an escape portal.

Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee, who expects to be at the scene around 11pm, said the blast happened at 3.45pm and the last contact with any of the miners was lost at 4.15pm
.
He said mine officials had no idea what caused the blast, or the condition of the miners who were trapped.
The Mayor of Grey District, Tony Kokshoorn, who rushed to the site of the blast, said "it's not good".
"With a bit of luck, it might be okay but there are 25 to 30 unaccounted for."

Rapid response mines rescue teams have been mobilised from their headquarters at Rapahoe, seven miles north of Greymouth.

Escape tunnels in mine

Herald video journalist Simon Baker, who has been in the mine, says it does have an evacuation chute where miners can escape if the main entrance to the mine tunnel is blocked.

"They've built a small channel, which is just a ladder to the top of the mountain," said Mr Baker.

Mr Brownlee confirmed the existence of the exit tunnels but didn't know if they could be accessed by the miners.

He said he would be going to the mine tonight.

"Any assistance the Government can provide, the Government will be there."
Pike River Coal Mine

The mine is located 46 km to the northeast of Greymouth, halfway between Greymouth and Reefton.

The Brunner seam at Pike River holds the largest-known deposit of hard coking coal in New Zealand, with 58.5 million tonnes of coal in-ground. It runs six kilometres north-south and up to one-half kilometres east-west, averaging about seven metres in thickness
.
The company had recently almost halved its production forecasts for the 2011 year to between 320,000 and 360,000 tonnes
.
The mine is extremely isolated. It is a hill site mine that is made up of horizontal tunnels
.
Around 150 people are employed by the mine. New CEO Peter Whittall started on October 2.

Acknowledgements: NZ Herald staff

http://huttriver.blog.co.uk

Related articles

• Explosion at Pike River Coal Mine - TVNZ (news.google.com)
• Massive explosion at mine site, dozens unaccounted for (briefingroom.typepad.com)
• NZ's worst mining accidents: Gas, explosions kill dozens - New Zealand Herald (news.google.com)
• Miners missing after NZ explosion (bbc.co.uk)
• Miners missing after explosion (heraldsun.com.au)