*

Saturday, November 20, 2010

WTF is going on down at the mine?

Whilst it is hoped that the outcome will be positive, 14 hours in, one wonders just WTF is going on down at the Pike River mine?

It appears that the rescue teams are dithering above ground. Worried about poisonous gases. Do they not have full face breathing apparatus like firemen? And since the initial event, the shift sparkie has actually been in and out, along with the others who exited safely. I would have thought a quick recce would have happened by now.

One hopes that we are not going to witness another event like the Singh dairy robbery where the authorities stuffed around for some time before entering.

Just saying, wanting to see some real positive rescue action. Fast. Meanwhile we all wait, thinking of the families involved.

5 comments:

pdm said...

Watching on from London PM my thoughts are very similar to yours. Why do we wait for daylight in a mine for goodness sake?

Sean said...

Gas build-up means more explosions. Refer you to mine rescue expert on Close Up yesterday.

PM of NZ said...

Sean I saw that expert on telly last night.

Do you really mean to suggest in this modern age that rescuers are not able to enter blacked out areas and are unable to cope with hazardous / flammable gases?

Anonymous said...

NZ is under judgment. Earthquakes, mine explosions, sick crime and violence, left wing pillaging.

MacDoctor said...

I have worked on a coalmine. Methane is highly explosive. Blundering around the mine with respirators is unhelpful. The first thing you need to do is ventilate the mine again, otherwise those men will be dead long before you reach them and you will cause new explosions every time you uncover a pocket of methane.

That is the difference between a coal mine and a gold mine. Gold mine disasters are mostly rock bursts and you can start looking for the miners immediately, because the pressure is off the rock. Coalmines mostly have methane explosions and you have to clear the mine first.