No, Paul, I don't know anyone within any of the families, or, indeed, anyone living on the West Coast. It is a relatively remote place and though there are very good air links and superb roads over there nowadays, for many years access was a long and winding business. Someone like our Forum Admin man Fred, will have closer ties than I have as he goes over there to fish from time to time.
The individual stories are so sad. The young Scotsman Malcolm Campbell was to be married in just a few weeks to a NZ girl and the youngest, a 17-year-old, was in the mine on his very first day of work. He wasn't due to start until tomorrow but was so excited about it all that his supervisor (who is also his stepfather) gave him permission to start the week earlier, a decision he'll no doubt regret all his life. The brother of one of the 2 who got out on Friday, is also among the losses.
