Pike River Inquiry Phase 3: Manager wanted out
Right to the last, Pike’s senior manager underestimated the gravity of the mine’s... [more]
Pike River Mine Inquiry
Pike River Inquiry Phase 3: Whittall rejects allegations
Lawyer tells inquiry that Pike boss Peter Whittall is devastated by Doug White's evidence. [more]
Pike River Inquiry Phase 3: “There was a blame culture”
The mine's senior manager tells the inquiry that relationships were troubled at the top. [more]
Pike River Inquiry Phase 3: Manager wanted out
Right to the last, Pike’s senior manager underestimated the gravity of the mine’s... [more]
Pike River Inquiry Phase 3: Electrical set-up an “extreme risk”
Pike’s electrical system presented multiple sources of danger, the commission has... [more]
Pike River Inquiry Phase 3: Pike kept pushing on with production
Pike’s critical safety systems were under-designed, the Commission heard this... [more]
Pike River “accident waiting to happen”
Evidence from the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Pike River tragedy shows there were signs everywhere that the organisation was unsafe. [more]
Pike River Inquiry Phase 3: No training for hydraulic mining
The commission has heard from the men who were running Pike’s hydraulic mining... [more]
Pike River Inquiry Phase 3: Fundamental design flawed
A Japanese mining expert tells how Pike pushed ahead without adequate systems and safeguards. [more]
Pike River Inquiry Phase 3: A disaster waiting to happen
At the inquiry yesterday, a Japanese mining expert has depicted the Pike mine as a disaster waiting to happen. [more]
Pike River Inquiry Phase two: Mine boss “out of the loop”
Peter Whittall says his hopeful message to families was genuine, but he “didn’t know what he didn’t... [more]
Pike River Inquiry Phase two: “Charade” for families
Families were told the men had air and water, and would emerge hungry, the commission has heard. [more]
Pike River Inquiry Phase two: Mines Rescue advice ignored
The Pike rescue operation suffered from “operational paralysis”, the commission has heard. [more]
Pike River Inquiry phase two: Pike “talked rescue with families”
But in private it was a different story, the inquiry has heard. [more]
Pike River Mine Inquiry phase two: early optimism of survivors
Pike senior manager Steve Ellis believed some miners may have survived the first blast. [more]
Pike River Inquiry Phase two: top cop “stuck in the middle”
Counsel for the Pike families suggests that the gravity of the situation was kept from them. [more]
Pike River Inquiry Phase two: no window for rescuers
The decision not to send rescuers into the mine following the Pike explosion was correct, the Inquiry has heard. [more]
Pike River Inquiry Phase two: Families encouraged to hope
The Inquiry into the mine explosion has heard allegations that disaster experts were sidelined by police. [more]
Pike River Mine Inquiry Phase one round-up
Phase one of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Pike River Mine disaster has finished, and the evidence alleges serious inadequacies in the mine's conception. [more]
Pike River Mine Inquiry: Day 10
Pike boss Peter Whittall faced intense questioning from the lawyer representing the families of the 29 men killed in the mine explosion. [more]
Pike River Royal Commission phase two wrap-up
| Tags: Feature, Pike River coal mine
Wellington officials fiddled while Pike River burned, phase two of the Royal Commission into the mine tragedy was told. Mine boss Peter Whittall, meanwhile, continued to give the families hope. [more]