WELLINGTON
\nEleven years after a New Zealand mine disaster claimed 29 lives, investigators on Wednesday said they had found the remains of at least two of the victims but were unlikely to launch a recovery operation.
\nThe 2010 Pike River Mine disaster was one of New Zealand\u2019s worst industrial accidents, shocking the nation and prompting multiple recovery attempts and a charged criminal investigation.
\nThe disaster is believed to have been caused by a blast triggered by a methane build-up. Only two of the 31 miners on the afternoon shift were able to make their way out.
\nTunnel collapses have all but ended efforts to recover the bodies or gain more evidence about the disaster. But by digging a borehole, experts have now been able to gather images from the furthest reaches of the mine.
\nPolice said they had spotted two sets of human remains and a possible third.
\n\u201cAt this point, we have been unable to identify the remains, however we will consult with forensic experts,\u201d Detective Superintendent Peter Read said, adding that because of the location, police would not be able to recover the bodies.
\n\u201cBased on our investigation, we believe there were six to eight men working in the area where the remains have been located.\u201d
\nAndrew Little, the minister responsible for the recovery operation, added \u201cit is unlikely they will be removed… I know some families would like to go further but that won\u2019t be possible.\u201d Families of the victims said they hoped the discovery would assist with potential prosecutions.
\n\u201cWe\u2019ve fought hard for years now to get justice for our boys, and this is part of it happening,\u201d said Rowdy Durbridge, whose son Daniel died in the explosion.
\nAnna Osborne, whose husband was among the 29 miners killed, said \u201cwhat we\u2019ve seen is starting to give real clarity about what happened down there.\u201d
\nThe families of the men trapped and killed in the mine battled authorities for several years to retrieve the bodies.
\nIn 2017, the government agreed to fund a recovery operation but this was abandoned in March this year when they said the operation had progressed 2.2 kilometers (around 1.5 miles) from the entrance without success and it was too hard and too expensive to go any further.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WELLINGTON Eleven years after a New Zealand mine disaster claimed 29 lives, investigators on Wednesday said they had found the remains of at least two of the victims but were unlikely to launch a recovery operation. The 2010 Pike River Mine disaster was one of New Zealand\u2019s worst industrial accidents, shocking the nation and prompting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-227967","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n