All 29 miners feared dead in New Zealand

All the 29 miners trapped in a coal mine in New Zealand are feared dead after a second explosion, police said on Wednesday.

Superintendent Gary Knowles said “It is our belief that no one has survived and everyone will have perished.”

Twenty-four New Zealanders, 2 Australians, 2 Britons and a South African – have been trapped since the first explosion on Friday in Pike River Coal mine.

A second blast occurred about 1500 hrs local time on Wednesday. The blast was huge.

Efforts are on to determine what are causes for the second blast in the mine, which continued to pour out lethal gas to make dangerous for rescuers to go inside.

Peter Whittal, the chief executive of the South Island mine, said they would make every effort to retrieve the bodies of the men.

Family members wept, shouted and fell to the floor after hearing the news.

Two robots had been sent into tunnels of the mine and a third was on its way in the hope of gaining a clearer pictures of the conditions underground.

The first robot had found the helmet of Russell Smith, one of the two miners to escape the blast on Friday.

The mine is about 2 kms deep by side of a mountain.