Hijjah 13, 1431, Nov 19, 2010, SPA - An explosion ripped through New Zealand's largest coal mine Friday with about 30 people underground, officials said. Five workers, dazed and slightly injured, stumbled to the surface, while more than two dozen were missing. Police said the electricity in the mine went out shortly before the blast - which was powerful enough to blow one driver off his machine deep in a mine tunnel - and this may have caused ventilation problems. One mine safety expert said a gas explosion was a possible cause. Police spokeswoman Barbara Dunn stressed it was too early to say why the explosion occurred. Rescue teams and emergency workers rushed by helicopter and by road to the mine, located in remote and rugged mountains near the town of Atarau on New Zealand's South Island. "It's not good news at all," Tony Kokshoorn, the mayor of nearby Greymouth, told National Radio. "We don't know at what depth the explosion is but there's certainly a big explosion. With a bit of luck, things might be OK."
