New Zealand police find more bodies 13 years after Pike River disaster | New Zealand Police New Zealand
Police have found the bodies of at least two more of the 29 men killed in the Pike River explosion, one of New Zealand’s worst mining disasters.
New Zealand police are still conducting a criminal investigation into the 2010 mine explosion, and on Friday morning found “the bodies of two, possibly three miners” in the basement of an explosion where methane gas ignited. announced that it did. coal mines on the west coast.
The discovery was made when police completed a site survey of the mine. Up to 12 of 29 bodies found.
The bodies were found through a series of boreholes drilled into the now-closed mine, which police used to send in photographic equipment. The mine is still considered too dangerous to enter.
Rowdy Durbridge, a Pike River miner who lost his son Dan in the explosion, said the find provided some comfort. Police photos show the men died instantly and were not locked up as some families had feared.
“I can take some comfort in the fact that the sightings confirm that they fell where they were standing and didn’t spend days trapped there alive.” he said. New Zealand media “staff”.
Police investigations continue, but 29 mines have been killed despite evidence that a company called Pike River Coal ignored months of workers warning them about dangerous levels of methane in the mines. No one has been charged in the worker’s death.a Royal Commission of Inquiry Researchers for the disaster concluded that “there were many warnings of the potential for catastrophe at Pike River.”
In the 48 days leading up to the disaster, workers reported explosive levels of methane 21 times. The Royal Commission wrote that “warnings were ignored” and that executives “exposed the company’s employees to unacceptable risks”. The Royal Commission said: “The push for coal production before the mine was ready created the conditions for the tragedy.”
New Zealand’s health and safety regulators initially filed 12 charges against Pike River Coal’s president Peter Whittal, but later filed a lawsuit after the company’s insurer paid out $3.41 million to his family. withdrawn. Pike River Coal was found guilty of nine counts, and a judge found the company committed a “fundamental violation of the Employment Safety and Health Act that resulted in the needless deaths of 29 men.” dropped. The company was declared bankrupt and dissolved. Whittor had been indicted as part of a secondary case and had pleaded not guilty. The deal was later ruled illegal by the New Zealand Supreme Court, but the charges were never reinstated. Thirteen years after the disaster, some families still hope that police investigations could lead to prosecution of company executives.
Lieutenant Daryl Sweeney said Friday police were unable to identify any new bodies. “So far, police have been able to narrow down the possibilities based on information about where miners were working before the first explosion,” he said.
“Unfortunately, in this case, we can’t do that.
Sweeney said police had finished gathering evidence at the scene but the investigation was not over yet, adding: “This includes scrutinizing eyewitness testimony and re-interrogating some of the people involved. ‘ said.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/23/new-zealand-police-find-more-remains-13-years-after-pike-river-disaster New Zealand police find more bodies 13 years after Pike River disaster | New Zealand Police New Zealand