Photo: Credit: NZ Police
Police are nearing the final stages of their criminal investigation into the Pike River mine disaster, in which 29 men were killed.
A methane-fuelled explosion ripped through the mine in the rugged Paparoa Range on the South Island's West Coast on 19 November, 2010.
Detective Superintendent Darryl Sweeney said the nationally significant and unique investigation was legally complex, and police had been working with the Wellington Crown solicitor for more than 18 months.
"We acknowledge this year will be 16 years since the disaster. Before any decisions can be made, we will be conducting a further investigation phase," he said in a statement.
"To protect the integrity of the investigation, we will not be providing specifics. However, I can say any further update is likely to be several months away.
"We appreciate questions over the time this investigation has taken but police are committed to exploring all possible lines of inquiry out of respect for the 29 miners and their families."
Last November the lawyer for Pike River families Nigel Hampton KC told RNZ police had enough evidence to lay manslaughter charges over the disaster.
The Department of Labour laid health and safety charges against Pike River Coal Ltd, its former chief executive Peter Whittall and contractor VLI Drilling Ltd in 2011.
The charges were dropped in 2013 in exchange for a $3.41 million payout to the victims' families, which was later declared unlawful by the Supreme Court.
The 29 men died from the blast or from the toxic atmosphere underground, while two others in the stone drift managed to escape.
Photo: RNZ / Anneke Smith
Efforts by Pike River families, including Anna Osborne and Sonya Rockhouse, ultimately led to police being able to re-enter the mine and recover further material and evidence from inside the drift.
In September 2022, police announced they were reopening the borehole drilling operation as part of the investigation and 10 boreholes were drilled, imaged and resealed. Human remains were found in the mine in 2023.
The 15th anniversary of the disaster followed the release of the Pike River feature film, which brought the families' ongoing fight for justice back into focus.
Osborne and Rockhouse met Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden at Parliament on 19 November to warn that her workplace safety reforms risked another Pike River disaster.
Unions are calling on the government to support corporate manslaughter legislation, arguing it would ensure that the most extreme breaches of health and safety obligations result in criminal liability.
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith last year said there were no plans to introduce a corporate manslaughter charge.
A 2012 royal commission of inquiry found that New Zealand's old safety laws lacked teeth and there were catastrophic failings in the mining company's systems, despite numerous warnings about a potential disaster.
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