Tragedy cause not known

Press, 20 September 1985, Page 4

Tragedy cause not known

It could be weeks or months before the cause of the fire and the deaths of four men in the Boatmans mine is known for sure, said the Chief Inspector of Mines, Mr Bob Offord, yesterday. Mr Offord travelled from Wellington to inspect the mine site yesterday. After interviewing the rescue crew and others at the mine, Mr Offord said he thought he knew what had happened but needed to go into the mine to confirm his beliefs. He was not prepared to say what he thought had happened until he had made his inspection. He could say there had not been an explosion in the mine because of the state of the bodies of the four men. The fire was in an old part of the mine which had been worked out “years ago.” Fissures and cracks had worked their way from the mine to the surface and were feeding oxygen to the fire. Once the mine was properly sealed, it could take weeks or months before the fire burnt out.

“We will be monitoring it daily but however long it takes, we will go down once the fire is out,” said Mr Offord. The fire is likely to restart soon after the' mine is opened and oxygen is let back in. “But we hope we will get at least 12 hours before the fire starts again. We will examine the place thoroughly to a predetermined plan. We will know what to look for,” he said. Mr Offord said that he would report to the Secretary of Energy, Mr J. J. Chesterman, who in turn would report to the Minister of Energy, Mr Tizard.

If Mr Tizard saw fit he could direct that a formal investigation be held into the accident. Under section 181 of the Coal Mines Act, 1979, such an investigation would be held before a Court of Inquiry consisting of a District Court judge appointed by the Minister. Relatives of the dead men would have the right to be present, give evidence, and to have any witness examined.