Miners go back to work after cave-in death

A West Coast coal mine where a former international rugby league player was killed by a cave-in on Friday partially reopened yesterday with the blessing of the man's family.

Bernard (Hurgi) Green, 47, died when rock crashed onto him in the Roa coal mine at Blackball, near Greymouth. Nine other miners escaped, including Mr Green's son Royce.

The area where Mr Green was killed remained closed yesterday, but much of the mine was reopened by the operator Roa Mining. Managing director Brent Francis said the reopening was mostly about "getting confidence back and talking things through".

Mr Green's family had no issue with work resuming. "For a lot of people, you have just got to get back on the horse. You can't sit and think about it," said his son, Tyrell Green.

"Dad wouldn't want it to stop. He's the kind of guy who would say 'go forward'."

Investigations by the Labour Department and police will try to determine what went wrong, but Tyrell Green said his family held no grudge against anyone over Mr Green's death.

"It was a freak accident. He was just doing his job. He had been doing it since he was 15. It was the only job he knew. He could have been a bus driver and been killed driving a bus."

Mr Green, who played seven matches for the New Zealand rugby league team in the early 1980s, will be farewelled at a funeral service at St Patrick's Church, Greymouth, tomorrow.