Book on the tragedy at Pike River Mine has been launched

Journalist Rebecca Macfie says that researching and writing her book Tragedy at Pike River Mine, How and why 29 men died was the hardest task she’s ever undertaken in her 25-year career.

Macfie began covering the story for the New Zealand Listener in the days following 19 November 2010 - when news broke of a massive explosion at the underground coal mine in the Paparoa Range near Greymouth. That day, two men had made it to safety. By the time the stories written by Macfie and her New Zealand Listener colleagues appeared several days later, the mine had exploded for a second time and there was no doubt that all 29 men still inside were dead.

In researching the book, Macfie interviewed more than 100 people involved with the mine, from management to miners, geologists and contractors, mines rescue workers for whom Pike remains an open wound, and families of men who died. Macfie says readers will learn of an appalling string of mistakes, from consent being given for the mine in the first place, to lack of proper monitoring equipment, pressure to ignore safety requirements and, effectively, only a single exit.

Although much of this has been revealed through the Royal Commission that investigated the disaster, Macfie also discovered new material. She says her aim was “to make the Pike story understandable to a wide audience - for the families, friends and colleagues who grieve for the 29 men, for New Zealanders who want to understand how such an avoidable disaster occurred in their midst in the 21st century, and for the leaders of businesses and organisations who must learn from it.”

Rebecca Macfie is a senior writer with New Zealand Listener. She was previously a deputy editor and senior writer for The Business in The New Zealand Herald and deputy editor and editor of Unlimited magazine.

The third anniversary of the Pike River mine disaster is Tuesday 19 November.