Recent imaging from the borehole drilling programme at Pike River Mine indicates the possibility of human remains in the vicinity of borehole six.
Over the past three weeks, Police have drilled and imaged three more boreholes, all of which have resulted in images useful to the ongoing criminal investigation.
Borehole six is in an area where men were known to be building a stopping (wall) when the mine first exploded on 19 November 2010.
Some of the images captured from that borehole indicate the possibility of human remains.
Two pathologists have viewed the images and are unable to determine whether they definitively show human remains.
Police have spoken to the families of the three men believed to have been working in the area.
Detective Superintendent Darryl Sweeney says Police are committed to keeping the miners’ families informed with updates on a regular basis.
“We recognise this is an incredibly difficult process for the families of the 29 men killed at Pike River.
“While we can’t say with any certainty that we’ve located human remains, we have shared what we’ve found as well as the pathologists’ conclusions.
“Our thoughts are with the families as they process this news,” Detective Superintendent Sweeney says.
Work began on 10 additional boreholes in late January this year.
The final three holes will be drilled in the coming weeks, concluding the Police investigation at the mine.
ENDS
Issued by Police Media Centre