Pike River mine inquest date set

The coronial inquest into the deaths of 29 miners who perished in New Zealand's Pike
River Coal mine disaster will begin next month, the chief coroner says.
The inquest will be held at Greymouth District Court - about an hour from the Pike
River Coal mine where a methane explosion trapped the 29 men underground on November
19.
The inquest date was set as the mine's receivers said it could take up to four
months before workers can re-enter the mine and assess how or if the miners' bodies
may be safely retrieved.
The inquest was likely to be limited to confirming the identities of the deceased
and, as far as possible, establishing the cause of death and likely time frames,
Judge Neil MacLean said.
"Wider issues concerning cause and possible prevention are likely to be covered by
the Royal Commission of Inquiry, so to avoid any prejudice and allow all other
investigations to be completed, the inquest is likely to be adjourned indefinitely
after the January date," Judge MacLean told reporters.
He expected to hear the best evidence available from police and other experts.
"I want to do what I can so that the families have the information they need to help
them cope with the difficult circumstances surrounding this tragedy," he said.
The inquest will allow Judge MacLean to legally register the deaths and get death
certificates for the families.
Pike River Coal's receivers on Wednesday said it could take up to four months to
re-enter the mine in which the 29 workers.
Receivers PricewaterhouseCoopers presented police with a draft plan for re-entry to
the mine prepared by a panel of technical experts including rescue personnel from
New Zealand and Australia.
The plan contains two phases. First, it suggests some additional work to stabilise
the mine, including sealing the cracks in the ground to help reduce the flow of
gases out of the mine.
Second, it sets out a plan to enter the mine to recover the remains of the 29
workers, depending on the mine environment.
A representative of the receivers said it could be up to four months before re-entry
to the mine was possible.
The plan had been given to Police Commissioner Howard Broad and would be peer-reviewed.
Mr Broad said "several weeks" would be needed for detailed consideration of the plan
by the police force and its advisers.
Police would retain control of the work to stabilise the mine in the meantime.
Progress at the remote South Island mine has been slow - machines working to
stabilise the conditions aren't working as well as expected and bad weather has
hampered efforts.
Receiver John Fisk said it would be up to the NZ police to make a call on whether to
re-enter the volatile mine.
Closing the mine "could be the ultimate outcome" if the plan failed, Mr Fisk told
Radio New Zealand.
"All we can do is really try and facilitate a process and we're putting every effort
we can into doing that," he said.