Pike River coalmine started extracting coal before it was safe to do so, a
Japanese mining expert told the inquiry into last November's fatal explosion.
The underground West Coast mine's main ventilation fan was not ready and
there was no second escape exit, the mine's former hydro-mining operator,
Masaoki Nishioka, said yesterday.
He had raised his concerns with Pike River Coal chief executive Peter
Whittall and mine manager Doug White, he said.
"I wouldn't send anyone underground before a robust ventilation system and
the second means of egress is ready," Nishioka told the royal commission into
the deaths of 29 men. Despite that, he had entered the mine because he had felt
"obligated to work".
Timaru Herald
Editor: So what is to stop this happening here? SQUAWK!! SQUAWK!!
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