The emergency operation at the Pike
River Coal mine was now focusing on a recovery mission, New Zealand Energy
Minister Gerry Brownlee says.
Twenty-nine miners, including two
Australians, were declared dead after a second devastating explosion tore
through the Pike River Coal Mine near Greymouth on Wednesday.
Among the dead are Joshua Adam
Ufer, 25, and William John Joynson, 49, both from Queensland.
An explosion in the mine last
Friday trapped the miners setting off rescue efforts which had been hampered by
toxic gases within the South Island mine.
“The team they are on the
mountain. (They) will now look at how they go about the recovery exercise,”
Mr Brownlee told the Nine Network on Thursday.
“Although everything was being
handled in a cautious fashion there was none the less urgency about trying to
get into the mine and I guess the urgency has now gone but the imperative to
get in there remains and they will be trying to formulate a plan to get in
there.”
Mr Brownlee said another priority
would be to find answers to why this national tragedy occurred.
“We will be discussing on
Monday at Cabinet the nature of an inquiry that we might have. I don’t think
there will be any answer to that next week,” he said.
“But we’re very determined to
find out what happened here and how it happened and why it happened.”
He said there would also be
inquiries by the New Zealand Department of Labour, New Zealand Police and a
significant inquiry by the Coroner.
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key
will travel to Greymouth today, Thursday, and has said he hopes to meet the
miners’ families.
A memorial service was held in
Greymouth on Wednesday night, and other services are expected to be held around
New Zealand within the next few days.
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