Peter Whittall, the mine chief, told a hastily convened press conference that it was "extremely unlikely" that anyone underground could have endured the force of the explosion.
Visibly upset, Mr Whittall said: "While we were hopeful that we could get some men out of the mine, it was realistic that many of them would never have come out alive.
John Key, the New Zealand prime minister, said the event was "a national tragedy" and that the country must "make now way for sorrow".
"To lose this many brothers at once strikes an agonising blow," he said.
The 29 men, including two Britons, have been missing in the coal mine since a powerful underground blast on Friday afternoon. While police had initially insisted they would bring the men out alive, hope had dimmed in recent days.
Relatives of the men, who have been anxiously waiting to hear the fate of their brothers, fathers and husbands for the past five days, were devastated by the news.
Several relatives walked out of the daily 4 pm briefing when they were told what had happened, their grief and anguish boiling over at the waiting media and the police.
Most were in tears, many had to be supported by police, the Red Cross and paramedics as they left the meeting. Tony Kokshoorn, the Grey District mayor, said they were in "absolute despair".
Mr Whittall has pledged to recover the bodies of the men from the mine, but said he could not predict when it would be safe enough to send recovery teams in.
He added: "I have met with the families and as you imagine they are absolutely devastated.
"They have all held out hope that it is their son, their husband, their brother would be the lucky one.
"I would have to say they are all probable feeling that hope's gone."
The mine owners and police who led the operation have insisted that none of their attempts to access the mine, which included sending two robots into the entrance tunnel earlier in the day, could have triggered the explosion.
Mr Whittall said that it was a "natural event" caused by a build up of methane within the mine over several days. He said further explosions were possible.
He also rejected accusations that the operation had been mishandled.
"All the people who insisted that the rescue teams should have gone in anyway have been shown by this explosion why they shouldn't have gone in," he said.
"I'm sure the men underground would have understood."
Mr Kokshoorn said it was the West Coast's "darkest hour".
He said the meeting had erupted in anger when Mr Whittall delivered the news.
"Everyone started shouting and sobbing. They just dropped to the floor.
"It is gut-wrenching. It doesn't get much worse than this."
Mr Whittall was at the mine when the explosion took place. After being told that a huge volume of smoke had come out of the mine shaft, he watched CCTV footage from the mine entrance that showed the extent of the blast.
"There was a large explosion coming from the mine tunnel, it was similar to the first one, but in my opinion it was more significant, it was larger and stronger and it lasted 30 seconds," he said.
"It was not what I wanted to see."
The blast came minutes after he had been told the testing of gases within the mine had shown anomalies that indicated methane was building up underground, he said.
================================================
================================================
No comments:
Post a Comment