NZ judge orders bankrupt coal company to pay families of 29 miners killed in 2010 explosion
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A New Zealand judge Friday ordered a coal mining company to pay compensation to the families of 29 miners killed in a 2010 methane explosion.
The families and two survivors of the explosion may receive only a fraction of their 110,000 New Zealand dollars ($86,000) individual compensation because Pike River Coal went into bankruptcy soon after the explosion.
The company was convicted in April of nine health and safety violations. A government investigation found it had ignored 21 warnings that methane gas had accumulated to explosive levels in the South Island mine.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Judge Jane Farish slammed the company's actions in her ruling. In addition to ordering compensation, she also fined the company NZ$760,000.
Government lawyers had asked for compensation of between NZ$60,000 and NZ$125,000 for each of the miners.
Opposition Green Party lawmaker Kevin Hague on Friday said the government should make up any shortfall in the compensation amount.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It is a travesty of justice that the Pike River families could end up with as little as $5,000 in compensation when they are legally entitled to much more," Hague said in a statement.
A spokeswoman for Labour Minister Simon Bridges said the government may issue a statement later Friday.
Former chief executive Peter Whittall faces 12 charges in a separate case yet to be heard.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The victims' bodies are still entombed in the Pike River mine because the methane gas buildup that caused the explosion has made a recovery operation too risky.