New Zealand mine owners rule out recovery of bodies

THE owner of a New Zealand coal mine where two Scots were killed in a methane-fuelled blast four years ago has said it will not retrieve the remains because it is too dangerous.

Picture: AP

The bodies of Malcolm Campbell, 25, of St Andrews, and colleague Peter Rodger, 40, formerly of Perth, remained in the mine at Pike River after a gas explosion in 2010 killed 29 men, in New Zealand’s worst mining disaster in almost a century.

The announcement by state-owned Solid Energy dashed the hopes of those who had sought to recover the remains of their loved ones from the Pike River mine on the South Island.

Solid Energy Board chairwoman Pip Dunphy said the company was unable to come up with a safe re-entry plan.

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“We know this decision will be very disappointing to the family members and friends of the men who died in the mine,” she said. “However, any further loss of life in this mine is unacceptable and any possibility of other families having to go through what the Pike families have suffered is not something our board can support.”

Ms Dunphy said risks included the possibility of the roof collapsing because of fire damage and difficulties managing gas levels and ventilation.

Bernie Monk, whose 23-year-old son Michael died in the accident, said expert advice gathered by the victims’ families indicated the mine could be re-entered safely.

Nevertheless, he said, it was time to move on rather than spending months more debating the issue.

“Reluctantly, some of us, like me, have succumbed to the realisation that the men will have to stay there and that’s their burial ground,” he said.

Solid Energy also announced it was relinquishing its Pike River mining permit, which will revert to government ownership. That means the company will not seek to extract any more coal from the mine.

Mr Monk said the families had asked the government to turn the site into a memorial and a health and safety training area.

At the time of the accident, the mine was owned by the Pike River Coal company, which later went bankrupt. A government investigation found Pike River Coal ignored 21 warnings that methane gas had accumulated to explosive levels in the mine.

The company was convicted of nine health and safety breaches, while charges against the company’s former boss were dropped last year.

SEE ALSO:

• Charges dropped against New Zealand mine blast boss

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