The end of evidence gathering at Pike River Mine signals a new chapter in the fight for truth and justice, says the Pike River Family Reference Group..

Anna Osborne who lost her husband Milton in the mine says the reentry of Pike River and the subsequent investigation has returned some honour to New Zealand. “The effort that this government and now the police have put into getting back into Pike and then investigating the trove of evidence that has produced has gone a long way to putting right some of the injustices and lies Pike families have faced since that awful day in 2010.

“Justice is being done and I am confident it will end in accountability for those responsible.

Sonya Rockhouse’s son, Ben, died in the explosion and her son, Daniel, was one of two men who managed to escape after the explosion. She says that New Zealanders should be pleased that justice is being done. “There’s a lot of frankly upsetting and harmful conspiracy theories that get spread about Pike River but we family members have been at the heart of the recovery and have been keeping a close eye on the investigation.

“I can tell you first hand that justice is getting done.”

Rowdy Durbridge worked in Pike River Mine and lost his boy Dan in the explosion. For him the recovery of images from inside the mine has been haunting and informing. “The remains that have been seen are the fellas I worked with, they may even be my boy, everyone knows 29 men died in that shithole of a mine but to know they have been seen is somehow different.

“I can take some heart in the fact that what’s been seen confirms they fell where they stood and didn’t spend days trapped in there alive like some people have tried to claim.”

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