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New Zealand: Pike River disaster families hold vigil for those killed in accidents in the workplace

FAMILIES of workers killed in New Zealand’s worst mining disaster in a century held a vigil yesterday for the 291 workplace deaths in the five years since.

The vigil was timed to come a day before the second reading of the government’s health and safety reform Bill today.

Families lit 291 candles in memory of the 291 people who have died at work since a methane explosion at the Pike River coalmine on November 19 2010 killed 29 miners.

With an average of over 60 deaths a year since then, New Zealand workers are almost six times as likely to be killed at work as those in Britain.

Current Pike River owner Solid Energy has said that the remains of the victims may never be recovered.

Families and unions accused the government of failing to live up to the promises it made following the disaster.

“One of the few good things that was supposed to come out of Pike was better health and safety laws,” said Sonya Rockhouse, whose 21-year-old son Benjamin Rockhouse was killed at Pike River.

“Slowly over time this has been dropped and that’s been dropped and what we’re left with is barely worth the paper it’s written on.”

Anna Osborne, who lost her husband Milton, said: “Promises have been made and they haven’t been kept.”

“We need this for everybody — keep it simple and get everyone under the same law regardless of how small or how dangerous that industry is.

“Instead what we get is that it’s all too hard and too many broken promises.”

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