By 3 News online staff and Jane Luscombe
Police have released the names of two men whose bodies were found in a disused Coromandel mine at the weekend.
Kerry Murphy, 40, and Grant Wyllie, 49, are understood to have died after inhaling carbon monoxide.
Their bodies were discovered by a female acquaintance after the pair had been missing overnight.
She scrambled through thick bush and over steep, rugged terrain to reach the mine. Hoping to hear their voices, instead she discovered their bodies.
The woman alerted police, who found a petrol-powered generator still running and limited air when they entered the mine shaft. Officers required breathing apparatus before they were able to recover the bodies.
Police have confirmed items removed from the mine, 60m off a country road between Coromandel township and Whitianga, were consistent with that of a clandestine lab.
Mr Murphy had previously been fined in relation to drug lab testing for methamphetamine contamination at a property where he was a tenant.
Acting Detective Senior Sergeant Ross Patterson of the Thames-Coromandel CIB says there was no explosion in or around the mine.
“The investigation is being treated as sudden deaths as opposed to a homicide inquiry, and we are not looking for anyone else in connection to the deaths,” he says.
He says the accident highlights the risks of using petrol-powered engines in confined spaces.
“This is another case that shows the risks to people’s lives when they dabble in the manufacture of controlled drugs such as methamphetamine. People need to realise that cooking controlled drugs poses a high risk to themselves and others around them.”
The head of a business association in Whitianga says drugs are a problem in the area, and while he was sorry for the grieving families, he had little sympathy for the dead men.
“Probably the majority of people around here would rejoice at the fact that there are at least two less people who are likely to be producing products that certainly aren't acceptable in society today,” says Gordon Barnaby.
The police believe the tunnel hadn't been in use for long as a P-lab. They say it's the first time they've heard of an abandoned mine being used in this way.
The tunnel is contaminated but the police hope to be able to enter tomorrow with cameras to record the scene inside.
3 News