After a second major blast at the Pike River coal mine in southern New Zealand today, the government and the rescue teams that were at the site trying to rescue the 29 trapped miners at the pit declared them dead as their chances to be rescued dramatically decreased. A first metane gas explosion caused the accident Friday and since Monday the rescue staff were losing the hopes of bringing them alive.
The same Pike River mine was the scenario to New Zealand's worst mining tragedy when 65 miners died at an explosion back in 1896. Its tunnels reach over two kilometers beneath the surface, and two robots were sent to the interior of the project trying to reach the workers.