Saturday, November 20, 2010

Mine rescuers \'won\'t compromise\' on safety

Rescuers and mining officials in New Zealand say they are still committed to rescuing 29 men trapped by an explosion at a coal mine on Friday.



Fears are growing for the men, including two Australians, who have not been heard from since the blast cut power and ventilation shafts.



Police will not allow emergency crew into the mine because something is smouldering underground and poisonous gas levels are too high.



The manager of the New Zealand Mines Rescue Service, Trevor Watts, says his team is ready to go at the first safe opportunity.



\"I can assure you that every Mines Rescue member that is working on this operation are waiting to go underground to rescue our brothers,\" he said.



\"The whole lot of them are our brothers. We\'re a small community, and we know all of these guys there, and if there was the slightest opportunity, to go underground we will be.\"



He says the safety of his personnel, along with the safety of the miners, is paramount.



\"The process we are going through at the moment is information gathering around gas analysis and certainly atmospheric monitoring,\" he said.



\"The gas analysis component is absolutely critical to deployment teams underground.\"



He says the biggest concern is that there may be an explosive atmosphere underground.



\"We have got to be certain that we are not going to compromise the safety of the miners that we are trying to rescue and the rescue teams that we will deploy underground,\" he said.



\"The logistics of deployment underground are quite vast.



\"We\'re talking 2.5 kilometres from the portal to the first intersection in the mine that will have to be done on foot by the rescue teams.



\"This is not like walking down to the local supermarket - the terrain is an underground mine, the floor conditions are uneven, there is a loader that the teams will have to negotiate around. That will all be done on foot, the first reconnaissance, it will all be done with breathing apparatus.\"



He says each man in the rescue team will be carrying equipment weighing from five to 10 kilograms.



\"They\'ve got to walk that 2.5 kilometres on an upward gradient and that could take anywhere up to two hours.



\"On an initial reconnaissance, they would then have to withdraw because of the timeframe and return to a fresh air base that we will have established on the surface at that point.



\"This is not an easy, \'we can just throw the facemasks on people and head on into the mine in a hurry\', because it\'s just not that simple.\"





Holding out hope



Mine rescue authorities say they are undertaking new drilling today, but the Mayor of Greymouth, Tony Kokshoorn says a robot should be sent in to help evacuate the situation.



Mr Kokshoorn says families need something to cling to.



\"I feel if we can put a robot in there, put it in there,\" he said.



\"Let\'s find out what\'s going on in there. Look, there\'s grieving people that are getting despaired at the moment.\"



Family members have been at the mine today.



Laurie Drew, whose 21-year-old son Zen is missing in the mine, says he wishes he could stay at the site until the rescue operation is completed.



\"We want to be on site so when they walk out, we\'re there,\" he said.



\"It\'s good all the rescue guys, it\'s awesome, but it\'s not loved ones and that\'s who they\'re thinking of while they\'re there.



\"That\'s why we want to be there, regardless of how it comes out. I just want my boy home.\"



The families of the trapped miners attended a meeting at the local town hall this morning to discuss the efforts being made to rescue the men.



New Zealand\'s Prime Minister John Key says he is still holding out hope that they are all alive.



\"As long as there\'s no news, there\'s always hope that they are alive,\" he said.



\"There is oxygen actually flowing through the mine. But we know that there is some damage because the pressure has reduced.



\"It\'s not impossible that people are alive, but equally it\'s a very challenging situation.\"



Gary Fraser\'s best friend Pete Roger is missing in the mine and he says he\'s desperately waiting for any good news.



\"He\'s a very strong character [who] usually deals with things,\" he said.



\"You never lose faith. Just keep on hoping everything is going to be good.\"


News From: http://www.7StarNews.com

No comments:

 
eXTReMe Tracker