NZ police find bodies 13 years after Pike River Mine disaster

WELLINGTON - New Zealand police on Friday announced they have discovered possible human remains at Pike River Mine, nearly 13 years since explosions killed 29 men, reported German news agency (dpa).

A series of explosions from Nov 19, 2010, at an underground mine near Greymouth, in the West Coast region of the country's South Island, killed 29 men. Their bodies have never been recovered.

Police and experts have been drilling holes into the coal mine as part of an ongoing criminal probe into the disaster.

Detective Inspector Darryl Sweeney said images from a borehole near where men were known to be working at the time of the explosion showed possible remains.

Two pathologists had viewed the images and were unable to determine whether they definitively showed human remains, Sweeney said.

Police had spoken to the families of the three men believed to have been building a wall in the area.

"We recognise this is an incredibly difficult process for the families of the 29 men killed at Pike River," he said.

"Our thoughts are with the families as they process this news."

Three more holes will be drilled at the site in the coming weeks, concluding the police investigation at the mine, Sweeney said. - BERNAMA