I pray to God they are alive, says Key

John Key at Greymouth. Photo / Herald on Sunday

Prime Minister John Key says he is praying that the 29 men trapped at Pike River are safe.

"I just pray to God that they are alive," he said.

"Obviously we need to begin a rescue as soon as we practically can, and we just pray that they have managed to secure an oxygen source."

Yesterday, Mr Key met some of the families of the men, missing since Friday's blast.

"They [the families] are feeling very vulnerable, fragile and scared, and that's totally understandable ... They are incredible in terms of controlling the anxiety.

"If I put myself in their shoes, I would be wanting to do whatever I possibly could to get someone in that mine, and that's what we want as well."

Mr Key said he supported the decision not to rush a rescue.

"In one sense, no news is good news because we continue to hold out hope for them."

He asked the families to trust the authorities.

"The rescue team ... are dealing with the best specialists in the world but they have to be very cautious."

Among the rescue team were miners with local knowledge whom the families would know and whose judgment they would trust.

An Australian disaster, where rescuers entered a mine prematurely and were killed in a blast, had to be borne in mind, the PM said.

"The risk here is that they, on ill-advised information, go into the mine, set off another explosion and we lose the lives of not only the miners but also the rescuers.

"It's an extremely agonising position for the families, who obviously want the rescue to be undertaken as soon as possible."

Today, Mr Key hopes to visit the rescue team, be updated and meet the families again.

"I just hope my presence demonstrates that at every level, this Government has got this as a top priority.

The disaster was the worst he had had to deal with as Prime Minister.

"I looked into the eyes of those families yesterday and ... we wish we could do something more for them. All I know is we are doing everything that we can."

- NZPA