CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- A "big explosion" at a coal mine on New Zealand's South Island trapped at least 33 miners, including managers who were on a safety tour, company officials said.
Two miners escaped the Friday blast. Reports of one miner dying were not confirmed, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. said.
Initial reports indicated the miners could be up to 5,000 feet underground, said police official John Canning.
The mine is about 160 miles west of Christchurch.
An electrician who entered the mine to investigate found one of the two men who escaped, a loader driver thrown from his machine, officials said.
The loader driver and another miner had minor injuries and were being questioned about what happened, the broadcaster said.
"One of the employees has said they felt an explosion underground, and since then he's walked from the mine with another employee," Peter Whittall, chief executive officer of the Pike River Coal Ltd. mine, told The (Sydney) Daily Telegraph.
Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee said the trapped men included mine management members who were conducting a safety tour at the time. The mine had emergency tunnels, but Brownlee said he didn't know if the miners could access them.
Tony Kokshoorn, mayor of Grey District where the mine is located told Radio NZ: "It's not good. ... We don't know at what depth the explosion is but there's certainly a big explosion".
The mine, about 1 1/2 miles deep, sits on the largest known deposit of hard coking coal in New Zealand, 58.5 million tons, The Daily Telegraph said. It employs 140 people and produces 1.5 million tons of coal annually.
UPI
