Mine to be examined

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34120, 5 April 1976, Page 1

Mine to be examined

CV.Z. Prcs3 Association > ( HAMILTON. April 4. ! Union and Mines De-■ partment inspectors will! tomorrow examine the j Roto war o mine in which i a Huntly man died yes-1 terday morning. The Number Three entrance to the New Haulage line could be sealed up depending] on the outcome of talks between the union and the I department. The portal has already been' boarded up following Satur-| day’s rock-fall. The dead man; was Mr Johh Walton, aged 52, of Huntly, whose wife has been on holiday in Aus-; tralia. His companion, Mr Samuel Watkins, also of Huntly, suffered bruising and shock when he was trapped by the legs on the edge of the fall. Both men had been using heavy wooden posts and steel rails to retimber a section of the mine close to the spot where another miner was injured in a similar collapse five weeks ago. The president of the Waikato Mine Workers Union (Mr E. J. Anslow) said today he would not like to see the entrance reopened. The union would suggest alternatives to I the department. He said it was possible the union would ask for a new; tunnel to be driven into the Rotowaro hillside, which is estimated to contain 300,000 tonnes of coal. The scene of the underground accident was later inspected by the Mines Department district manager,

>Mr J. E. Holm, who said he.: was not yet able to deter-1 mine the cause of the acci-l dent. The mine project manager; (Mr W. Munken) said the. miners at the scene and men| involved in the rescue of the' [injured man would not bet permitted to speak to the press because the accident [would almost certainly be the . subject of an inquiry. [