Pike River Mine (11/19/10 explosion)

The Pike River Mine disaster was a coal mining accident that began on 19 November 2010 in the Pike River Mine, 46 kilometres (29 mi) northeast of Greymouth, in the West Coast Region of New Zealand's South Island. A first explosion occurred in the mine at approximately 3:44 pm (NZDT, UTC+13). At the time of the explosion 31 miners were present in the mine. Two miners managed to walk from the mine; they were treated for moderate injuries and released from hospital later that day. The remaining miners were believed to be at least 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) from the mine's entrance.