Pike River Recovery Agency reaches rockfall at top of mine tunnel
Wednesday, 17 February 2021
The Pike River Recovery Agency has reached the roof fall 2.26 kilometres up the mine’s access tunnel, marking the end point of its journey and ending any hopes of recovering any bodies.
The roof fall was the furthest point the agency planned to go into the West Coast mine, where 29 men died in November 2010. There had been a small possibility of finding some bodies in the previously unexplored 400-metre section at the top of the access tunnel, or drift.
Agency chief operating officer Dinghy Pattinson said the team finished the last of its forensic work in front of the roof fall about 11.30am on Tuesday.
Pike River families described the milestone as “bittersweet”.
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Anna Osborne, whose husband Milton died in the mine disaster, said the end of the drift recovery process had left her with mixed emotions.
“I’m incredibly proud that we have got this far and so thankful that the people of New Zealand have backed us getting this done and gathering the evidence that is crucial to getting justice for our boys.
“But it’s also hard to know that this is as far as we will go and that Milt is still in there. I think every family member will be feeling that same mixture of pride and sadness,” she said.
Rowdy Durbridge worked at Pike and lost his son, Dan Herk, in the explosion.
He said coming to the end of the drift was hard.
“Let’s face it, we didn’t get what we want in our hearts – to get our boys back – but we knew that wasn’t likely when we started.
“The next best thing for me is getting some justice for Dan and the fellas down there and I think they’d be proud that we’ve got to that.”
Sonya Rockhouse, who lost her son Ben in the explosion, said the end of the drift was another milestone on the way to justice.
“The drift recovery was always about retrieving evidence and, if they were there, remains.
“Now that the mining work is done the indepth forensics can be completed and the legal work can begin.”
The agency would now turn its attention to the detailed forensic work in the Pit Bottom in Stone area, which was required for the police investigation.
Pit bottom in stone is a 600m network of roadways about 1900m up the drift that holds vital electrical equipment that could provide data to explain the cause of the explosions.
Police were still investigating any criminal culpability for the 2010 disaster with the help of the $50 million Government-funded Pike River Recovery Agency.
Families of the Pike 29 had given the agency mementoes, which had been placed into the Rocsil plug facing the roof fall, along with a letter from the agency to the men.
“We promised that work would continue on finding out what happened on 19 November 2010. And we said goodbye,” Pattinson said.
“Breaking through to the end of the drift was monumental.
“The boys and I feel pretty good to have now got as far as we can in the drift. That job has been done, and it has been done safely.”
The letter says 2011 was the last time Pattinson was this close to the men. He was part of a Mines Rescue team that installed a seal 170m up the tunnel in 2011.
“We made a promise to you [that] we would be back one day, hoping to return you to your families and loved ones, or at least, to find a cause of this terrible tragedy,” the letter says.
“An extreme amount of hard work, determination and commitment has got us here … today we stand so very close to you, 2240m into the drift, sadly with a massive rockfall preventing us going any further.
“We can’t get to you, but the cause is not over. Work will continue to investigate what happened on that fateful day … hopefully injustices will be held to account in an effort to bring some peace and closure to you and your loved ones.”