New Zealand Mine Disaster - 29 Miners Dead

[GilbertGutbucket]

After the success of the Chilean miner's rescue comes the shock of 29 miners killed in a NZ coal mine, including 2 Brits..... RIP. Condolences to all family and friends of the deceased.

[JensenA]

My condolences to the loved ones as well. However I wish we had more information as to why the so called Rescue Services didn't enter the mine. Perhaps they are following the Rescue Services we have in the UK, where they are not allowed to do anything if there is considered to be a risk involved.

[hornetrider]

JensenA said:

However I wish we had more information as to why the so called Rescue Services didn't enter the mine.

Well... there was a gas build up in the mine which was deemed dangerous, and so proved with the 2nd explosion which is believed to have killed them.

At least, that's my understanding from catching the news earlier.

[matchmaker]

JensenA said:

My condolences to the loved ones as well. However I wish we had more information as to why the so called Rescue Services didn't enter the mine. Perhaps they are following the Rescue Services we have in the UK, where they are not allowed to do anything if there is considered to be a risk involved.

Care to justify that?

[GilbertGutbucket]

matchmaker said:

JensenA said:

My condolences to the loved ones as well. However I wish we had more information as to why the so called Rescue Services didn't enter the mine. Perhaps they are following the Rescue Services we have in the UK, where they are not allowed to do anything if there is considered to be a risk involved.

Care to justify that?

Stop the nitty picky bickering and respect the dead.

[BonzoG]

JensenA said:

However I wish we had more information as to why the so called Rescue Services didn't enter the mine.

Perhaps they had a pretty good sodding idea that it was about to blow again! Why send them in like lemmings and add to the death toll?

[matchmaker]

GilbertGutbucket said:

matchmaker said:

JensenA said:

My condolences to the loved ones as well. However I wish we had more information as to why the so called Rescue Services didn't enter the mine. Perhaps they are following the Rescue Services we have in the UK, where they are not allowed to do anything if there is considered to be a risk involved.

Care to justify that?

Stop the nitty picky bickering and respect the dead.

As a former member of two of the Rescue Services I am quite entitled to feel aggrieved at the comment! I am not showing any disrepect to the dead and their families.

[road hog]

when they holed thru ,they were getting a reading of 95% methane..

it would have been obvious it was going to blow again.

feel for all those involved.

[cottonfoo]

Very bad news, was a bit down when I read it this morning. After Chile I think the whole world was watching in hope of another happy ending

[Mojocvh]

cottonfoo said:

Very bad news, was a bit down when I read it this morning. After Chile I think the whole world was watching in hope of another happy ending

ditto. RIP.

[Tiggsy]

matchmaker said:

JensenA said:

My condolences to the loved ones as well. However I wish we had more information as to why the so called Rescue Services didn't enter the mine. Perhaps they are following the Rescue Services we have in the UK, where they are not allowed to do anything if there is considered to be a risk involved.

Care to justify that?

Agree with the above....it's a pretty naive and Daily Mail esque view that is highly disrespectful to those who DO put themselves in harms way for others.

[dreamz]

Tiggsy said:

matchmaker said:

JensenA said:

My condolences to the loved ones as well. However I wish we had more information as to why the so called Rescue Services didn't enter the mine. Perhaps they are following the Rescue Services we have in the UK, where they are not allowed to do anything if there is considered to be a risk involved.

Care to justify that?

Agree with the above....it's a pretty naive and Daily Mail esque view that is highly disrespectful to those who DO put themselves in harms way for others.

i think the 2nd blast rightly justifies their decision not to send the rescue services barging in - the death toll could've been alot worse

apparently from the bore hole they dug they picked up a large percentage of carbon monoxide and methane - what are the chances they would've been alive anyway?

[RobDickinson]

I'm obviously a bit closer to all this than most of you lot, know a few relatives of victims.

Its all very sad and many questions will be asked why it happened in the first place, the mines only been working for a short time, took them 2 years to dig the entrance tunnel.

Rescue personnel did want to go straight in, and they did attempt to send in robots ( a bomb disposal bot got halfway down the tunnel before malfunctioning), but at no time was it deemed safe enough to send other people in at quite a high risk.

Remember they would have to have walked 2kms in in breathing gear just to get to the mine.

Who knows if the trapped men were alive after the initial blast or days of poisonous gasses either. Lots of questions to be answered over the coming months.

[SkinnyBoy]

Very sad, the poor families on the news last night... my heart goes out to them.

Do we have any mining experts that could shed some light on how the gases can build up to such an explosive level such as this?

http://resources.news.com.au/files/2010/11/24/1225...

[anonymous-user]

SkinnyBoy said:

Very sad, the poor families on the news last night... my heart goes out to them.

Do we have any mining experts that could shed some light on how the gases can build up to such an explosive level such as this?

http://resources.news.com.au/files/2010/11/24/1225...

Any confined space runs the rusk of hazardous gas build-up. Even something as basic as a surface water sewer beneath a road can be a dangerous place and require breathing apparatus. Gas leaches in from surrounding ground, rock, all sorts of places. It's just chemistry - remember putting a lump of this or that in a beaker at school, cover it with water, and it gives off some other type of gas. Same, simple principle. Some gases are heavier than air and sink (Nitrogen), some are lighter and rise to the top (methane?). Just a natural occurrence - with respect to the miners, they may well have just been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Awful situation though. The families must be devastated.

[Puggit]

Sadly I think there was a false level of hope because of Chile - 2 very different mines and different circumstances.

[badgers_back]

Alarm wasn't raised till 2 hours after the explosion, basically everyone at the mine was in the mine.

Some comments are that if your going to go into a mine that has gone bang the best window is right after an explosion basically all the gas has been burnt off.

[JagLover]

JensenA said:

My condolences to the loved ones as well. However I wish we had more information as to why the so called Rescue Services didn't enter the mine. .

I always had the feeling they thought everyone was already dead, before the second explosion.

[badgers_back]

JagLover said:

JensenA said:

My condolences to the loved ones as well. However I wish we had more information as to why the so called Rescue Services didn't enter the mine. .

I always had the feeling they thought everyone was already dead, before the second explosion.

Its a flat mine E.G you can walk in and out and they don't believe the roof has caved

[J T]

SkinnyBoy said:

Very sad, the poor families on the news last night... my heart goes out to them.

Do we have any mining experts that could shed some light on how the gases can build up to such an explosive level such as this?

http://resources.news.com.au/files/2010/11/24/1225...

I was told that there were reports the large fans had stopped working, which allowed gases to build up and lead to the first explosion. It is not confirmed, however.