Hopes Fade for New Zealand Miners as Rescue Efforts Remain Stalled

Rescue officials say a hole drilled into the New Zealand mine where 29 miners are trapped underground shows an unstable environment and high gas levels.

Police superintendent Gary Knowles said the drill breakthrough shows it is still not safe to send rescue teams into the mine.

An explosion from a buildup of methane gas trapped the men in the Pike River coal mine on the west coast of New Zealand’s South Island Friday. There has been no contact with the miners since the blast.

Earlier Tuesday, the operators of the mine released footage of Friday’s blast from a surveillance camera at the mine’s entrance.

In the video, stone dust can be seen blasting out of the shaft for about 50 seconds on Friday. The mine company showed the video to relatives of the miners before releasing it to the media.

Pike River Coal chief executive Peter Whittall said a camera lowered through a narrow hole that provided air to a designated safe area of the mine showed some damage but no sign of life.

In another setback for the rescue effort, a robot sent into the mine short-circuited Tuesday when it came into contact with water. A second robot was brought to the mine later in the day and was being prepared to enter the shaft.

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key told parliament the situation at the mine is “grave.” He said his thoughts are with the miners’ families and the sense of helplessness they must be feeling.

The missing miners include several British and Australian citizens and range in age from 17 to 62.

Some information in this story was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.