新西兰英语 603 Bodies will stay in coal mine

 　　Families of the 29 miners who died in the Pike River coal mine heard the news this week that the bodies probably cannot be recovered. It is too dangerous for anyone to enter the mine. There is a risk of another explosion if the mine is opened.

　　Solid Energy, the owner of other coal mines, has now bought Pike River Mine. However, the CEO, Don Elder, said that it would be five to eight years before anyone would be able to enter the mine because it was not safe.

　　Some families say that the Prime Minister has broken his promise. At the time of the disaster, John Key promised that the government would do everything possible to recover the bodies. Other families, however, say they do not want anyone to risk their lives trying to recover the bodies.

　　To find out more about the Pike River disaster, click on the tag ‘coal’.

　　Vocabulary

　　Recover has many meanings. Here it means ‘get them back’. Another related meaning is to recover your health after an illness. A third meaning is to re-cover a sofa or armchair with a new cover.

　　Idioms / useful structures

　　It is too dangerous (for anyone) to enter …

　　To do everything possible

　　To risk (their) lives