Fears grow for trapped miners in New Zealand

CONCERN was growing for 29 miners trapped underground in New Zealand after police and rescue crews today acknowledged for the first time they may not have survived.

• The entrance to the Pike River coal mine.

Two Scots, Malcolm Campbell from Fife and Pete Rodger from Perthshire, are among the missing men.

Police Superintendent Gary Knowles said today that rescuers were keeping an open mind.

However, he added: "But we are planning for all outcomes and, as part of this process, we're planning for the possible loss of life as a result of what's occurred underground."

Toxic gases have prevented rescuers from entering the mine, near Atarau on South Island, and there has been no contact with the missing men.

Drilling of a small shaft into the mine to test dangerous gas levels was expected to be completed later today, and experts were preparing a military robot to enter the mine and take pictures.

The robot will be able to provide pictures and gas samples up to a mile (1,500m) into the mine's main tunnel. Mr Knowles said that would give rescuers an idea of how safe the route is and whether they can enter themselves.

Police have said the miners, aged 17 to 62, are believed to be about 1.2 miles (2km) down the tunnel.

Each miner carried 30 minutes of oxygen, and more stored in the mine, along with food and water, could allow several days of survival.

The mine is entered through a 1.4-mile (2.3km) horizontal tunnel into the mountain, and the coal seam lies about 650ft (200m) beneath the surface.

One of two workers who escaped from the mine described the explosion as "a shotgun blast, but much, much louder and more powerful".

Daniel Rockhouse, 24, was smashed into the mine wall before collapsing amid the smoky, swirling gas and dust.

When he came to, he dragged himself upright and staggered to a nearby compressed air line to breathe in fresh air and gain some strength.

"I got up and there was thick white smoke everywhere - worse than a fire. I knew straight away that it was carbon monoxide," Mr Rockhouse, whose brother Ben remains underground, told the New Zealand Herald newspaper.

"I couldn't see anything, and it was dead quiet," he said. "I yelled 'Help, somebody help me!' But no-one came. There was no-one there."

He eventually stumbled across the unconscious body of Russell Smith, and dragged him until he awoke. The two men relied on the compressed air line as they stumbled through the dark haze to finally reach the surface nearly two hours after the explosion.

The miners' union said there had been no previous safety issues at the mine.

"As far as I know, there had been pretty standard procedures in place and nothing... that would have pointed to a potential risk was raised by workers," Andrew Little, spokesman for the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union, told reporters.