14 Nov 2013

Pike mine debris not examined for three months

12:06 pm on 14 November 2013

A stainless steel door blown more than 100 metres up the ventilation shaft at the Pike River mine was not examined until three months after the mine exploded.

Twenty-nine men died after a series of explosions at the West Coast mine that began on 19 November 2010.

The door and other items were blown along a ventilation shaft.

The door and other items were blown along a ventilation shaft. Photo: MINES RESCUE SERVICE

The stainless steel door, a plastic water bottle and a gas monitor were blown 111 metres up the ventilation shaft miners were supposed to use as a means of escape from the mine.

Members of the Mines Rescue Service took photos and say those images were handed to police in November 2010.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment says the stainless steel door was recovered at the time of the disaster.

Police say a search of the area among trees at the top of the ventilation shaft where the door was found was carried out in February 2011, three months after the explosions.

They say the prime reason was to look for human remains and any other relevant evidence once the site had been declared safe to examine. No human remains were found.

Family friends say that's not surprising given what heavy West Coast rain and animal scavengers can do in the three month timeframe.