Police Supt Gary Knowles: ”The longer it goes on, hopes fade”
Hopes are dwindling for 29 men who remain missing four days after a mine explosion in New Zealand, police say.
“The longer it goes on, hopes fade and we have to be realistic,” said police superintendent Gary Knowles, who is co-ordinating rescue efforts.
An army robot sent inside a tunnel leading to the men broke down, he said.
Supt Knowles said rescuers were still assessing air quality in the mine in the country’s south island, to decide whether rescuers can attempt to go in.
“We will not go underground until the environment is safe,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
Dangerous levels of methane and carbon monoxide in the Pike River mine near Greymouth have hampered rescue efforts.
Probes are taking gas samples. A listening device is due to be lowered down a borehole, which is being drilled.
Supt Knowles said drilling team had hit “very hard rock” overnight.
The military remote-controlled robot sent into the main shaft broke down after being damaged by water.
“We’ve had a kick in the guts,” Grey District Mayor Tony Kokshoorn told AFP news agency. “It’s history.”
The BBC’s Phil Mercer at the Pike River Mine says that for relatives of the 29 men, the wait is agonising.
There has been no contact with the miners – 24 New Zealanders, two Australians, two Britons and a South African – since the explosion on Friday.
The blast is believed to have been caused by methane.
Each miner carried 30 minutes of oxygen, enough to reach oxygen stores in the mine that would allow them to survive for several days.
Fresh air is also being pumped into the mine.
While the men would reportedly have been carrying flasks of water, there is no food underground. Their cap lamps were expected to run out after about 24 hours.
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