New Zealand unites in mourning for 29 miners lost in disaster

A line of 29 black-draped tables each bore a fallen miner's helmet, lamp and name.

Pike River mine, on New Zealand's South Island, was rocked by an explosion last month, trapping the men, including a 17-year-old boy on his first day of work, and Britons Peter Rodger, 40, from Perthshire and Malcolm Campbell, 25, from St Andrews in Fife.

A second major blast five days later dashed hopes any of the workers had survived. The men's bodies have still not been recovered.

Two more explosions have occurred since, including one on Sunday that shot flames into the air, signalling a raging underground coal fire that continues to burn.

The sombre, open-air service yesterday was held under a sunny sky at Greymouth's Omoto Racecourse on South Island.

People across New Zealand paused for a two minute silence before the service. Flags flew at half mast on government buildings nationwide.

Families placed photos, tributes and personal items – including clothing, a rugby ball, surfboards, a guitar and a cricket bat – alongside the miners' helmets.

Men, women and children, many weeping, filed quietly past the tables to pay their respects.

"In a very real sense, those men are with us because of those tables," the Reverend Tim Mora, who led the service, told the silent crowd.

Grieving father Lawrie Drew said he would not feel a sense of closure until his son Zen's body was recovered.

"It's not closure for me. Not until I see the body," he told a news website ahead of the service.

Prime Minister John Key said the nation's four million people were standing behind the region's tight-knit community.

"We hoped ... they'd emerge from the depths of the Earth," he told the mourners. "But they never came home."

Recovery teams started a jet engine known as the "gag" machine overnight, blowing inert gases and water vapour into the burning mine to quench the fire.

Police Superintendent Gary Knowles said once the explosive gases were expelled, work will begin to cool soaring temperatures inside the mine but it would be a slow process.

Foreign diplomats, including high commissioners from Australia, Britain and South Africa, who lost citizens in the disaster, were also at the service.