By DPA,
Wellington : More than 30 miners were reported missing after an explosion at a New Zealand coal mine Friday, news reports said.
Police said ambulances and helicopters had been sent to the Pike River mine, 50 km north of Greymouth on the west coast of the South Island, but there were few immediate details.
Local mayor Tony Kokshoorn said he had been told 25 to 30 miners were unaccounted for.
The TV3 channel quoted a Pike River company spokesman as saying 35 miners had gone down the pit on the afternoon shift and two had returned to the surface portal but communications with the rest had been cut.
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