The scene of the digger accident today. Photo / Westpac Rescue Christchurch
The scene of the digger accident today. Photo / Westpac Rescue Christchurch
The search for a digger driver buried beneath 1000 tonnes of rock in a North Canterbury quarry landslide has been suspended due to safety reasons.
The man was operating a 65-tonne machine when an overhanging cliff face gave way about 10.40am at the Heathstock Haulage quarry on Limeworks Rd just a few kilometres outside the township of Waikari.
Two other diggers were operating in the quarry but were not hit by the slip.
Mechanic John Stanley rents a workshop on the site where he runs Pyramid Valley Engineering 2015 Ltd and fixes the quarry machines from time to time, he said.
He estimated about 1000 tonnes of lime rock and debris came down and "buried" the digger.
Officials from a council which owns the land where the digger operator was buried today are on "tenterhooks" and hoping the man is miraculously pulled out alive.
The Hurunui District Council owns the land that the quarry is on, but leases it to the trucking company Heathstock Haulage.
The owners of Heathstock Haulage could not be reached for comment tonight.
Today the council released a statement saying it was anxiously waiting for further information about the "tragic accident" at the lime quarry.
Council chief executive Hamish Dobbie said that details of the accident remained unclear, but that the council would co-operate with all investigations.
"At the moment, we are on tenterhooks hoping that the trapped driver will miraculously be pulled out alive and unhurt. Our thoughts are also with the driver's family at this terrible time.
"[Hurunui District Council] has strong safety culture and expects all of our lessees to have the same commitment. To have this horrendous accident occur on land that we own is devastating to us."
Dobbie said he understood there would be police and WorkSafe inquiries, and said the council would comply completely with those.
A rescue helicopter was stood down about midday before St John left the scene at 2pm. Mr Stanley said the missing diver was a very experienced local man and that the machine had a protective cab.
But police Inspector Corrie Parnell this afternoon said that "due to instability of the quarry face the site had to be evacuated for safety reasons".
"Currently there are 25 people on site including SAR [search and rescue] specialists from Canterbury police and Alpine Cliff Rescue together with geotechnical specialists and representatives from Mines Rescue and Worksafe NZ," he said.
"At this stage I would reiterate this is a rescue operation and Canterbury police and Victim Support are working with and supporting the man's family who are understandably upset and worried."
Police said that due to the complexity of the physical environment it was difficult to estimate how long the search and rescue operation would take.
Asked of the chances of survival, Mr Stanley said: "The protection in those things is pretty good. He could be okay in there."
Staff at the site were in "shock" at the incident, Mr Parnell said.
A "considerable subsidence" of the quarry face "engulfed" the machine, Mr Parnell said.
"Immediate efforts were made by his colleagues with the other equipment to try and excavate around that machine... unfortunately there was further subsidence," he said.
When police and initial firefighters arrived on scene, the risks became "untenable" and they had to move away from the quarry face.
The digger's boom arm is visible amid the rubble.
Rescuers have got close to the "incredibly robust" machine but have not had any response from beneath the debris, Mr Parnell said.
They would now work through the night, with the aid of lighting, to continue the rescue.
Rescuers are even considering the use of remote control diggers, which were used during the February 22, 2011 earthquake.
Experts from Mines Rescue and Alpine Cliff Rescue have joined police and geotechnical specialists in the search.
Some family members met police at the quarry this afternoon. They made no comment as they left.
The Council of Trade Unions is calling for more stringent health and safety laws for New Zealand quarries following the accident.
This year, two other workers have been killed in the quarrying sector, CTU president Helen Kelly said.
Health and safety laws in mining were strengthened in 2013 following the Pike River Mine tragedy but the Government excluded quarries from the new protections after lobbying from the industry, she said.
Ms Kelly said it was important to have industry health and safety representatives checking on quarrying systems and providing assistance on best practice.
"Every worker should be confident that they can complete a day's work and return home uninjured.
"Now the Government wants to change the general health and safety law to make it weaker, including removing health and safety representatives from workplaces of less than 20 workers - they do so knowing that more workers will die. Surely the Government doesn't want the blood of more workers on their hands?"
The scene of the digger accident today. Photo / Westpac Rescue Christchurch
