#NEWS No news on trapped miners

ELEANOR HALL: But we go first to the New Zealand mining town of Greymouth where there is still no news of the 29 miners who were trapped underground by Friday's explosion at the nearby Pike River Coal mine but their names have been released.

GARY KNOWLES: Conrad John Adams, aged 43

Malcolm Campbell, aged 25

Glen Peter Cruse, aged 35

Allan John Dixon, aged 59

Zen Drew, aged 21

Christopher Peter Duggan, aged 31

Joseph Dunbar, aged 17

Daniel Herk, aged 36

John Hale, aged 45

David Mark Hoggart, aged 33

Richard Holling, aged 41

Jacob Jonker, aged 47

William Joynson, aged 49

Riki Keane, aged 28

Terry Kitchin, aged 41

Samuel Mackie, aged 41 (sic)

Michael Monk, aged 23

Stuart Mudge, aged 31

Kane Nieper, aged 33

Peter O'Neill, aged 55

Milton Osborne, aged 54

Brendan Palmer, aged 27

Benjamin Rockhouse, aged 21

Peter Rodger, aged 40

Blair Sims, aged 28

Joshua Ufer, aged 25

Keith Valli, aged 62.

ELEANOR HALL: That's the police commander in charge of the operation, Superintendent Gary Knowles, reading the names of the miners still in the mine, whose ages range from 17 to 62 and who include two Australians, two British men and a South African.

The mine management is now attempting to get laser imaging equipment into the mine in order to find gain more information about the conditions inside and a robot is also on stand-by. But police have still not deemed it safe enough to send in a rescue team and fear and tension in the community is rising.

Joining us now in Greymouth is correspondent Philippa McDonald. Philippa, still no contact with these men. Is there much optimism there within the local community that they will be found alive?

PHILIPPA MCDONALD: Eleanor, locals are having to dig deep to stay optimistic as every day passes. It is three days since the explosion and there is a mixture of anguish, frustration and grief. Little to cling to, there has been no communication with the miners and no rescue effort to speak of so far.

New Zealand's prime minister John Key was today offering his support to the families visiting the mine but he acknowledges that they are under great pressure.

JOHN KEY: These are very testing and difficult times for not least of all the families involved but for Greymouth which is a very tight-knit community. There is no question from the family members that I have spoken to that they are feeling extraordinarily high levels of fear and anxiety and frustration. These are all very natural human reactions but we owe it to the men that are underground that in undertaking the rescue, we do so in a way that doesn't endanger their lives any further.

ELEANOR HALL: That is the New Zealand prime minister, John Key.

Philippa, the authorities are now talking about sending a laser imaging wire down into the shaft and there's also talk about using robots. Why weren't these measures considered straight after the explosion?

PHILIPPA MCDONALD: Eleanor, that is the question on everyone's lips. Why not sooner? In terms of the robot there were concerns that the robot might spark a blast, an explosion and they had to be sure that they could get a flame-proof, we're told, robot that would be safe to go in and this has been something that the New Zealand defence force has been working with the mine rescuers on.

Each day since this disaster the media have been asking the question why not start the rescue operation. We have been told it is simply not safe enough to go underground because of smouldering and gases like methane and carbon monoxide.

But logistically to get the equipment down that you're talking about into the mine, has required a new bore to be drilled 162 metres through rock. Drilling started yesterday and it is expected that that bore will be completed later today. It is a 15 centimetre diameter which will enable that equipment to go down underground.

The mine's CEO Peter Whittall says they are doing everything possible but he says there are some explaining to do to families.

PETER WHITTALL: We are taking another couple of buses of family up today. Some will be in the same family members but a lot of them have had more and more members coming in all the time over the last couple of days so it will give at least two more members of each family an opportunity to visit the mine site.

I'll be going up and doing those tours with the people again myself today and giving them a full explanation of what's going on up there. They'll be able to see everything that the others saw yesterday, see the effort that is being put in and meet with the senior people on site and all the senior coordinators up there one on one. They'll have that opportunity to ask whatever questions they want.

ELEANOR HALL: That is the mine CEO speaking today at the press conference.

Philippa, what about these allegations of a build up of gas over a period of weeks and that there were no stores of food and water as would be required in Australian mines? Did the mine managers respond to these allegations today about these potentially inadequate safety measures?

PHILIPPA MCDONALD: Yes Eleanor, Pike Rivers CEO Peter Whittall has been forced to defend the safety practices in the mine. A geologist has reportedly, or warned, three years ago that is was highly gassy coal and with each tonne, each tonne contained about 10 cubic metres of gas. This was even before the coal mine opened.

Peter Whittall, the CEO says that even as recently as three weeks ago, they put in a new vent to try and get more fresh air into this mine.

He says he is very conscious of safety and he could not, however, really defend not having food and water stockpiled in the mine. He said there is fresh water in the mine, it is just naturally occurring but he couldn't really answer questions from the waiting media about why there wasn't food stockpiled as is the practice in Australian mines and Peter Whittall is a veteran of the Australian mining industry where he has worked for the past 25 years.

ELEANOR HALL: And Philippa, what is the latest on the fire?

PHILIPPA MCDONALD: Well, the fire we understand it is smouldering, it is combustible material, it could be coal, it could be oil and that it is still happening. There is so little known about what is happening underground that it is hard to get clear answers because from what we are hearing the mine operators, the mine rescuers don't know themselves about the heat that is being generated from some fires underground but it is very bad news and there is no sign yet that that heat has abated.

ELEANOR HALL: In Australia it wouldn't be police in charge of this rescue, it would be mining specialists. Is anyone raising concerns about that?

PHILIPPA MCDONALD: Look concerns haven't been raised at this stage and from what we can see the agencies are working well together.

Police superintendent Gary Knowles is heading this operation. We heard from him earlier and he conducts regular briefings. He is accompanied by the general manager of New Zealand Mine Rescue, Trevor Watts and they seem to have a very collaborative relationship, at least publicly.

But already there is talk of a royal commission into this disaster and I suppose the chain of command issues will be examined.

ELEANOR HALL: Philippa McDonald, thank you. That is Philippa McDonald our correspondent in Greymouth in New Zealand.

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