A Nation Waits

And hopes. And cries. And hopes again.

On Friday last week an explosion ripped through the Pike River coal mine between Greymouth and Reefton leaving 29 miners and contractors unaccounted for below ground. Specialist search and mine rescue staff and other emergency services are on site but rescue efforts are hampered by unsafe gas levels, the possibility of further explosions, and the terrain where the mine is located.

There has been no communication with the trapped miners. No indication of whether they are dead or alive. Despite the length of time that has already passed there is the very real possibility that there are survivors.

Meanwhile we wait. And pray. And hope.

Comments

busymomof10 said…
That is heart-breaking news. I pray that the miners are found alive and able to be rescued.

I was born in West Virginia -- a state that is characterized my coal mines, and many of my older relatives were coal miners in the day.

HOPING witn you . . . .
Jules said…
BusyMomof10, it's now known that there was a second explosion and that no one could have survived. It's been compared to the Upper Big Branch Mine, in Montcoal in Raleigh County, West Virginia were 29 men also perished.

I too was born and brought up in coal mining country both open cut and underground. I know of the risks - I've been in a simulator of a working coal mine and have nothing but admiration for the men who do this job.

Now we just hope that it won't be too long before the families have the bodies of their loved ones returned to them. But again it will depend on the gas levels and whether or not it's safe to go in.