Very little progress has been made today in rescuing the trapped miners in Pike River Coal mine. The army robot with a camera on it broke down about half a km into the mine perhaps because of the water in the mine. A second army robot has arrived but the same thing could happen. Other bigger robots are coming from Australia and the US. The Prime Minister, John Key, said the government will do everything possible to save the lives of these 29 men.
A camera dropped into a fresh air space showed damage but no sign of people. Drilling a hole is still continuing and a helicopter brought in another drill to work on another hole.
Meanwhile 65 rescuers are waiting to enter the mine. 18 of them have come from Australia. However, tests of air quality in the mine still show methane gas which could easily cause another explosion. It is not safe to send in rescuers.
We saw a map of the tunnels on television and they looked like a street map of a small village. There are many connecting tunnels. The missing miners are possibly in three different areas. We also saw a video of air and dust which came out of the entrance after the explosion on Friday. The explosion was maybe 2km along the tunnel and lasted about 50 seconds.
By this time, many families are starting to give up hope that the miners will be rescued.
Question
It has been five days now. Can you imagine how families are feeling at this time?