KEY POINTS:
A young man overcome by fumes while exploring an abandoned Otago mine was only 10 or 15 minutes from death, according to one of his rescuers.
Quentin Proctor, 20, and two friends came across and the mine while out riding motor bikes on Saturday.
After going into the mine, building apprentice Mr Proctor began feeling light-headed then fell unconscious, overcome by fumes from methane gas or "black air", which displaces oxygen.
His friends Jason Pennell and Morgan Kennedy raised the alarm when Mr Proctor stopped responding to their calls down the mine shaft.
Kaitangata deputy chief fire officer Dwayne Thompson said Mr Proctor had been unconscious about half an hour when rescuers wearing breathing equipment reached him.
Another 10 or 15 minutes and he may have been dead, he told the Southland Times.
"It was very serious," he said.
Kaitangata volunteer fire officer Ants Dunn said he feared the worst when he found Mr Proctor.
"When we found him at the bottom of the shaft we couldn't find a pulse and we couldn't see him breathing. It was pretty scary."
Adding to the fear was the fact that pure methane can be highly explosive and could have proven disastrous for rescuers.
Apart from a bit of rope burn under the arms, Mr Proctor said he felt fine, and was looking forward to returning to work as an apprentice builder today.
Inspector Michael Coulter, of southern police communications, said the incident was a reminder about the dangers of abandoned mine shafts.
- NZPA
