Forensic evidence most unlikely

Stuff reports:

Police Commissioner Mike Bush is not ruling out the possibility of manslaughter charges over the Pike River mine explosion, which claimed the lives of 29 men.

The Police never rule out any charges, so this is not significant.

His comments come after the Government gave the all-clear to re-enter Pike River mine.

Police are part of the re-entry operation and will conduct their own forensic investigation, alongside mining and recovery experts who hope to retrieve what remains of the men.

“Our case is open, and everything will be based on evidence,” Bush said.

“The purpose of us being involved here is, if it’s safe, to ensure that we take advantage of any opportunities to examine forensic evidence.”

If they find forensic evidence, that’s great. But I’d be very surprised if there is anything that will illuminate any further what went wrong.

Little has had the plan for the past two weeks. The agency had put forward three options for a manned re-entry and has a budget of $23 million, although it has said it would need more.

All options required additional funding, and Cabinet approve an additional $14m for the single entry option, this week.

$37 million then and possibly more. I wonder how many of the families would rather that was spent on supporting them directly, rather than re-entering the mine.