Disaster coal mine rocked by third blast

Pike River Coal chairman John Dow said the blast happened almost exactly a week to the minute after the first explosion that led to one of the country's worst mining disasters.

Twenty-nine workers, including two Britons, were caught in last week's explosion and officials said there was no way they could have survived a second blast on Wednesday.

Pete Rodger, 40, from Perthshire, and Malcolm Campbell, 25, from St Andrews, Fife, are among the missing men who also included a 17-year-old boy on his first day at work.

Mr Dow said the third blast was smaller than the earlier two, and that no-one was near the entrance of the South Island mine when it happened.

He said it would not affect planning for an operation to enter the mine to recover the men's bodies. Officials have said it could take weeks or months to complete.