Very bad news from New Zealand.
Around an hour ago a second serious blast was reported from the Pike River coal mine. It is thought that as a result, any of the 29 trapped miners who may have survived the initial blast have now also perished.
Terrible for all concerned.
Sincere condolances to our Kiwi mates.
Very sad, condolences to the families..
Coal Mines are so dangerous :'(
We just sent a few diamond drill bits to the mine today Asap.
And i actually service and manufacture the Directional down hole motors, the two Aussi contract drillers were using in the mine for the gas drainedge :o :o
They were employed buy Valley long wall industries an Aussi company
The motors are all made mostly from copper beryllium and stainless steel to prevent sparks and are driven buy water pressure.
Very sad day :'( :'(
Yes very sad so RIP every 29 miners :'(
It looks like they will temporarily seal the mine off, this should starve the fire that is burning inside the mine then when it is safe they will reopen it and recover the bodies inside.
My personal opinion is that the first explosion did all the damage and would have instantly claimed the lives of the miners, the mine is a young one that doesnt have a lot of tunnels in it so when an explosion happens it doesnt have many places to go.
My experience is being a coal miner for twenty years which we lost two members one was my fathers miner driver (CO - carbon monoxide explosion) and a fellow work mate in a rock fall, and seeing documented information not available to the public of the Appin Mine disaster in late '70's
May all these miners rest in peace.
Mmick