The family of New Zealand mine blast victim Malcolm Campbell have finally given up hope that they will ever recover his body.
Malcolm (25), from St Andrews, died when a series of underground explosions ripped through the Pike River coal mine in November 2010.
On the second anniversary of the tragedy, his parents Malcolm and Jane, called for “definitive action” to recover his remains.
They travelled to New Zealand for a memorial service held in honour of the 29 workers, who included Pete Rodger (40) from Perth.
Independent experts had suggested it could still be possible to enter the collapsed mine to bring out the bodies.
This gave the Campbell family renewed hope that their son’s body could be retrieved and repatriated.
But, Mr Campbell, of Cameron, near St Andrews, told The Courier they had now all but given up on this after taking part in a video link discussion over a plan to recover the remains of the 29 men.
A group of around 20 from Pike River families, Solid Energy, the Mines Rescue Trust and the Government’s High Hazard Unit heard from UK experts via a video stream.
Mr Campbell said the New Zealand authorities had agreed to continue developing and assessing two potential methods of exploring the mine’s drift.
The aim of this is to seek further health and safety evidence that might help in prosecutions against the mine’s owners. The attempted recovery of the drift was a “massive and expensive task” costing tens of millions of pounds.
But Mr Campbell — who has talked about being on a “rollercoaster of emotion” — said it was clearly just too dangerous ever to attempt a recovery of the bodies.
He said: “We were speaking to the experts yesterday and they were saying it was unlikely they will ever go back into the main mine because it’s filled with 100% methane gas.
“They are going back into the drift to recover evidence, but they have no plan to go into the mine and are not going to get the bodies out. It’s just too dangerous.
“There’s no way we would ever want any more lives to be put at risk in that mine anyway, so as far as we’re now concerned it’s about us seeking closure. We just have to accept that’s where his body will be staying.”
Former Pike River Coal boss Peter Whittall has denied 12 charges of alleged health and safety failures over the disaster. He is due to stand trial on March 12.
However, Mr Campbell believes other mine managers might yet be held liable and the evidential search at the drift could be crucial.
Mr Campbell also remains hopeful that wider improvements to mine safety will result from the disaster, as New Zealand had one of the world’s worst mining safety records.
A report into the tragedy uncovered a catalogue of failures by the mine owner and New Zealand Government. At the start of November the New Zealand Royal Commission concluded the blast was “preventable”.
A statement on behalf of the Pike River drift exploration working group said a constructive meeting had been held. It had been agreed to continue developing and assessing two potential methods of exploring the mine’s drift.
Nicholas Davidson QC represents some of the Pike families at the meeting and said a deadline can’t be set just yet.
Family spokesman Bernie Monk said it will be an ongoing discussion, and they are not expecting a decision for months.
Friday 1 March 2013
http://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/local/fife/hope-fades-of-recovering-new-zealand-mine-blast-victim-s-body-1.72685
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