There are hopes it won't be long until the families of the 29 men killed in Pike River mine on the West Coast 10 years ago get closure.
Pike River Recovery agency chief executive Dinghy Pattinson told TVNZ1's Breakfast his team is 2159.5 metres into the mine and nearing the end of the tunnel.
An explosion 10 year ago today, then a second five days later entombed the 29 men working inside at the time. Only two people made it out of the mine alive.
The mine has been re-opened for experts to inch their way in with hopes of finding victims' remains and evidence on what caused the tragedy.
"As of this morning we're 2159.5 metres into that tunnel, and it is a long way and it's been a long time coming and it's been 10 years for the families but we're nearly there," Pattinson told Breakfast host John Campbell at the site yesterday.
"We can see the pink plug we put down the borehole, you know, it's 70-80 metres away from us. On the other side of that it's only another 30-40 metres to the rockfall so we are so close."
Twenty-nine men died after an explosion in the mine on November 19, 2010.
Pattinson, who is a West Coaster, miner and mines rescue expert, gave credit to the team edging through the mine, who he said always had the victims and their families on their minds.
"I go back to when the agency was formed and before that when a lot of people said this job shouldn't be done, can't be done safely and we have done it safely. We're not there yet, we can't take our eye off the ball, but we're 2159.5 metres in," he said.
"We've come up with a safe plan and we've stuck to that plan and that's what it's about."
The re-entry mission was something families of those killed never stopped fighting for.
It's expected to be completed by this Christmas.
"Even 10 years on the families still haven't had closure but the good thing is we're near the end of the tunnel and hopefully they'll get that closure but it's a long time coming and it shouldn't have been this long," Pattinson said.
"People need to hear our journey because, once again, 29 people never come home and that should not happen in New Zealand and it can't happen again. One fatality at work is one too many."
Tomorrow marks 10 years since the explosion that took the lives of 29 men.
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