Pike River Mine.

I have so much difficulty with what has occurred here.

There has been sufficient spake of such contradictory nature that has not been addressed, for example: you cannot enter immediately after an explosion for 'fear of a further one,' when the impression is that pockets of gas are discrete of reservoir, and that oxygen depletion would negate such possibility for a certain time ... perhaps six days in this instance? ... albeit, reports indicated that there was heat, burning, and one would assume that a gas 'build up,' particularly an extremely volatile gas build up, could not possibly occur in the face of an ongoing ignition source.
Why do independent breathing apparatus and clothing not protect the wearers from toxic and volatile gases? ... Oh, they do.

And again, they will not enter. It will again be a CEO/police 'we know better (although we had to wait 6 days for it)' standoff, retrieval overruled.
And an army robot incapable of surviving water??
One cannot help but think that there will be no 'recoveries,' the site will be sealed and closed as 'too dangerous to enter' ... well aside from the retrieval of the army robot of course, which due to its robust construction ....

This all smacks too much of a convenient conclusion.

There are many unanswered questions here ... perhaps the first of such is why a 'west coast policeman,' an almost, perchance 'sent to Coventry' appointment, should be calling the shots?

Why was so much equipment needed to be called in?

Why were rescue teams not put in to action straight away, and why not immediately after the second explosion(?)?

What was with the safety plan within the mine?
Where was OSH in all this?? Obviously this situation smacks of so many 'blind eyes'it would seem they were unlikely to occur without being overridden by greater powers ... why? ... so many casualties.

Where is Jeanette Fitzimonds? Not so naive as to remain hidden.

How much of this has to do with the Greens anti-coal pro-greenery folly and a company's perhaps arrogant belief they can vent volatile gases sufficiently to pursue a viable venture?

Don't they all just run when their ideologies become so exposed concomitant with such sad, tangible consequences.

One would hope the mine will not be sealed such that we will not learn what has actually occurred, however this 'may
play out.'

At the very least, it must become mandatory that the person in charge of any (search and) rescue programme must be someone well versed or expert in the operation/terrain/activity in hand.

Plods may be 'handy,' but they certainly are not a bright broadly experienced bunch, and have at times shown themselves to be so PC/safety constrained as to constitute a significant hazzard, in and of themselves, to the containment and maximal remediation of dangerous situations. It is to be hoped this is not reflected in this situation.

This is a sad, sad occasion, it is to be hoped that there is nothing at all that is orchestrated about it ... but we don't know, do we?

Update: The ventilation shaft has been sealed and the intent is to set up a nitrogen generator to both cool and make a safer environment. Should not this be top fed, i.e. through the ventilation shaft, especially given it is of lesser mass than air and the shaft is inclined, such that air would then be forced away from the reputedly 'hot' face?
One can but fear another 'big bang.'