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Rescuers to re-enter NZ mine for the lost 29

Updated: 2011-05-24 10:26

(Xinhua)

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Rescuers to re-enter NZ mine for the lost 29
A combination of undated pictures released by the New Zealand Police shows 27 of the 29 miners trapped inside the Pike River Coal mine. The miners are (top row L to R) Conrad John Adams, 43, Malcolm Campbell, 25, Glen Peter Cruse, 35, Allan John Dixon, 59, Zen Wodin Drew, 21, Christopher Peter Duggan, 31, Joseph Ray Dunbar, 17, John Leonard Hale, 45, Daniel Thomas Herk, 36, (second row L to R) David Mark Hoggart, 33, Richard Bennett Holling, 41, Andrew David Hurren, 32, Jacobus (Koos) Albertus Jonker, 47, William John Joynson, 49, Riki Steve Keane, 28, Terry David Kitchin, 41, Samuel Peter McKie, 26, Michael Nolan Hanmer Monk, 23, (bottom row L to R) Kane Barry Nieper, 33, Peter O'Neill, 55, Milton John Osborne, 54, Brendan John Palmer, 27, Benjamin David Rockhouse, 21, Peter James Rodger, 40, Blair David Sims, 28, Joshua Adam Ufer, 25 and Keith Thomas Valli, 62. [Photo/Agencies]

WELLINGTON - Police and rescue workers have agreed a plan to retrieve the bodies of 29 men who died in one of New Zealand's worst ever mine disasters six months ago.

Stabilization of the Pike River tunnel entrance would begin on May 30, in the first step get into the heart of the mine, which has been sealed since a series of explosions killed the men in November last year, it was reported Tuesday.

Police, Mines Rescue staff and the mining company's receivers met in Christchurch Monday to plan the operation. The meeting was arranged after the release of videos showing two possible bodies inside the mine.

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The proposed recovery plan involved stabilizing the tunnel leading into the mine by building a series of seals, which would stop oxygen getting into the mine and make it inert, TV3 news reported.

Once they reached the rock fall inside the mine, rescuers would have to tunnel through almost 200 meters of rock to reach the site where the men's remains were thought to be, said the report.

If the plan went ahead, rescuers would enter the mine on May 30, TV3 reported.

The operation could run until the end of July, spokesman for the victims' families Bernie Monk told the New Zealand Herald.

"I expect to see some of the bodies are still intact - their clothing and stuff like that," he told the paper.

The families were hoping the government would pay for the recovery operation as the cost for a feasibility study alone could cost hundreds of thousands of New Zealand dollars, the paper reported.

Police warned the South Island mine was still too unstable to enter.

Malcolm Hollis, spokesman for receivers PricewaterhouseCoopers, told the paper he was confident the mine could be stabilized by the end of July, and the main priority was safe ventilation.

New Zealand's worst mining disaster was the Brunner coal mine explosion, which killed 65 miners in 1896. Before Pike River, the most recent mining disaster was the 1967 Strongman mine explosion, which killed 19 miners.

Rescuers to re-enter NZ mine for the lost 29
In this November 30, 2010 file photo, a flame burns from the end of a ventilation shaft of the Pike River coal mine near Greymouth on New Zealand's west coast. [Photo/Agencies]

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