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		</div><p><a href="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/miners-died-soon-after-explosion.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full" title="Men work on the air-flow system of Pike River Coal Mine mine near Atarau, New Zealand (AP)" src="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/min-miners-died-soon-after-explosion.jpg" alt="Men work on the air-flow system of Pike River Coal Mine mine near Atarau, New Zealand (AP)"/></a></p>
<p>All 29 miners in a southern New Zealand coal mine died within minutes of an initial explosion that rocked the mine in November, an inquest has heard.</p>
<p>The fates of the men had been uncertain for days after the November 19 methane-fuelled blast, because a build-up of poisonous gases prevented rescuers from entering the Pike River mine outside the town of Greymouth.</p>
<p>The miners were declared dead only five days later, after a second massive blast that officials said would have killed anyone underground.</p>
<p>Chief Coroner Neil MacLean said evidence showed the men died from a combination of concussion, burns or hypoxia caused by toxic gases and a lack of oxygen after the initial blast.</p>
<p>Mr MacLean told the inquest at a district courthouse in Greymouth that the men&#8217;s deaths occurred either at &#8220;the immediate time of the large explosion that occurred in the mine or a very short time thereafter&#8221;.</p>
<p>Earlier this month, officials said they abandoned attempts to recover the men&#8217;s bodies because the mine is still considered too dangerous and unstable for recovery teams to enter.</p>
<p>Wider issues concerning the cause and possible prevention of the disaster will be covered later by a Royal Commission of Inquiry.</p>
<p>Pike River Coal had been operating for about two years. It sold coking coal to offshore steel producers and was New Zealand&#8217;s second-biggest coal exporter.</p>
<p>New Zealand&#8217;s mine sector is generally safe with 181 people killed in the past 114 years. </p>
<p>The worst disaster was in March 1896 when 65 miners died in a gas explosion. The Pike River blasts occurred in the same coal seam.</p>
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