'Lucky' survivor describes NZ coal blast

Relatives of one of the 29 miners and contractors trapped in the Pike River Mine comfort each other as they leave a meeting after being briefed by mine management in Greymouth, New Zealand. Rescue crews waited impatiently on Saturday outside one of New Zealand's largest coal mines for the go-ahead to begin a search for 29 men missing after a powerful gas explosion struck deep underground. Two dazed and slightly injured miners stumbled to the surface hours after the blast shot up the 108-meter-long ventilation shaft at the Pike River mine. Photo: AP
Relatives of one of the 29 miners and contractors trapped in the Pike River Mine comfort each other as they leave a meeting after being briefed by mine management in Greymouth, New Zealand. Rescue crews waited impatiently on Saturday outside one of New Zealand's largest coal mines for the go-ahead to begin a search for 29 men missing after a powerful gas explosion struck deep underground. Two dazed and slightly injured miners stumbled to the surface hours after the blast shot up the 108-meter-long ventilation shaft at the Pike River mine. Photo: AP
An explosion rocked the remote colliery in New Zealand on Friday, trapping 27 miners underground. The new mine, which only began shipping coal this year, is dug into the side of a mountain range in the country's rugged South Island, burrowing into a deposit that, according to one recent visitor, was relatively gaseous. Photo: Reuters
Relatives of one of the 29 miners and contractors trapped in the Pike River Mine comfort each other as they leave a meeting after being briefed by mine management in Greymouth, New Zealand. Rescue crews waited impatiently on Saturday outside one of New Zealand's largest coal mines for the go-ahead to begin a search for 29 men missing after a powerful gas explosion struck deep underground. Two dazed and slightly injured miners stumbled to the surface hours after the blast shot up the 108-meter-long ventilation shaft at the Pike River mine. Photo: Reuters
Relatives of one of the 29 miners and contractors trapped in the Pike River Mine leave a meeting after being briefed by mine management in Greymouth, New Zealand. Rescue crews waited impatiently on Saturday outside one of New Zealand's largest coal mines for the go-ahead to begin a search for 29 men missing after a powerful gas explosion struck deep underground. Two dazed and slightly injured miners stumbled to the surface hours after the blast shot up the 108-meter-long ventilation shaft at the Pike River mine. Photo: AP
Relatives of one of the 29 miners and contractors trapped in the Pike River Mine comfort each other as they leave a meeting after being briefed by mine management in Greymouth, New Zealand. Rescue crews waited impatiently on Saturday outside one of New Zealand's largest coal mines for the go-ahead to begin a search for 29 men missing after a powerful gas explosion struck deep underground. Two dazed and slightly injured miners stumbled to the surface hours after the blast shot up the 108-meter-long ventilation shaft at the Pike River mine. Photo: Reuters
Relatives of one of the 29 miners and contractors trapped in the Pike River Mine comfort each other as they leave a meeting after being briefed by mine management in Greymouth, New Zealand. Rescue crews waited impatiently on Saturday outside one of New Zealand's largest coal mines for the go-ahead to begin a search for 29 men missing after a powerful gas explosion struck deep underground. Two dazed and slightly injured miners stumbled to the surface hours after the blast shot up the 108-meter-long ventilation shaft at the Pike River mine. Photo: Reuters
New Zealand policemen stand at a road block on the road leading to the Pike River coal mine where 29 miners are trapped following an underground explosion.
Relatives of one of the 29 miners and contractors trapped in the Pike River Mine comfort each other as they leave a meeting after being briefed by mine management in Greymouth, New Zealand. Rescue crews waited impatiently on Saturday outside one of New Zealand's largest coal mines for the go-ahead to begin a search for 29 men missing after a powerful gas explosion struck deep underground. Two dazed and slightly injured miners stumbled to the surface hours after the blast shot up the 108-meter-long ventilation shaft at the Pike River mine. Photo: Reuters

Published Nov 21, 2010

A coal cutter who walked out of a New Zealand mine with minor injuries from an explosion that left 29 missing says the series of bangs pelted debris over his vehicle and left him struggling to breathe. Russell Smith was an hour late for work on Friday and so was not deeper in the mine. He and colleague Daniel Rockhouse walked out of the mine tunnel more than an hour after the explosion. The other miners have not been heard from since the blast, and toxic gases have prevented searches in the tunnel.

Smith told New Zealand's TV3 news the explosion wasn't just one bang. "It just kept coming, kept coming, kept coming, so I crouched down as low as I could" to avoid debris.