Chief coroner meets with Pike families

A miner's helmet on one of the 29 tables after the national remembrance service for the miners killed in the Pike River Coal mine disaster. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The Chief Coroner has met families of the 29 men whose bodies remain trapped in the Pike River Coal mine to advise them on the course of the large and difficult inquest.

Judge Neil MacLean, along with a specialist forensic advisor and the president of the Funeral Directors Association, spoke to about 100 family members in Greymouth yesterday.

Judge MacLean said it would be difficult to conduct the biggest inquest he had ever undertaken without any bodies but not impossible.

The families were beginning to accept the loss of their loved ones though there was an added stress factor as they could not have the deceased bodies, he told Radio New Zealand.

"They are appreciating that they are dealing with a death and they are now starting to think through, where do we go from here?"

The families listened in respectful silence and most stayed for a private one-on-one discussion afterwards, he said.

Police have reportedly begun collecting DNA samples from the family members of the 29 men.

"Police are collecting a whole range of information from the families that will help us identify any remains that can be recovered," a police spokesman told NZPA.

Dangerous gas levels and an underground coal fire have prevented rescue and recovery teams from entering the mine since the first blast on November 19.

Risk assessments for a cap for the ventilation shaft that will starve the fire of oxygen are ongoing today.

A meeting with Pike River company executives and staff is planned for tomorrow.

- NZPA