Human remains have been discovered for the first time in New Zealand's Pike River mine, more than a decade after the disaster that killed 29 workers.
Police said remains of two, possibly three, men were captured in images late last week during boring efforts deep into the coal mine.
The 2011 explosion, caused by a build-up of flammable methane gas inside the mine, is one of New Zealand's worst workplace accidents.
Two Australians were among the victims, Josh Ufer and William Joynson.
Blasts continued for days after the initial disaster, and safety concerns have plagued the site for years, raising doubts about whether any bodies would be recovered.
Stand With Pike representative Anna Osborne, who lost her husband Milton in the blast, said the discovery made for "an incredibly emotional day for all of us".
"Families have seen images from the borehole project and more will see them at a presentation tonight," she said.
Detective Superintendent Peter Read said the images would not be released publicly, but that after 11 years underground the quality of the remains were "what you might expect".
"The images have been reviewed by pathologists and taken from the further reaches of the mine," he said.
"We've been unable to identify the remains. We're working with forensic experts to see what we can do to confirm the identities.
"Based on the investigation that we've done to date, we know that there's six to eight people that were working in that area."
The mine was sealed soon after the November 19, 2010 explosion.
There were a number of attempts to renter the mine, but the mine's owners and the previous government refused to attempt a manned re-entry of the mine due to concerns it was still too dangerous.
That was disputed by the mourning families who obtained their own expert advice on the mine's safety.
In 2018, the government announced that crews would re-enter the mine to better understand what went wrong, and hopefully recover some of the bodies.
Last year, Pike River Recovery Minister Andrew Little warned the possibility of finding traces of the men 2.2 kilometres below the surface would be remote.
Following the blast, New Zealand's department of labour laid 12 charges against former Pike River Coal chief executive Peter Whittall, which included four charges of failing to take all practicable steps to prevent employees coming to harm.
In 2013, authorities withdrew the case against Mr Whittall as it was unlikely to succeed.
They also revealed Mr Whittall and other mine bosses had agreed to pay compensation to families.
Relatives of those killed condemned the decision and slammed the $NZ3.41 million ($3.27 million) compensation package as "blood money".
In 2017 the New Zealand Supreme Court ruled that the dropping of charges was unlawful.
A royal commission into the disaster found that a disregard from management for workers' welfare, and that improper methane management led to the explosion.
ABC/AAP
