Anguished relatives of 29 workers missing after an explosion at New Zealand coal mine grew frustrated over delays in the rescue operation today, as officials prepared to drill a small hole through hundreds of feet of rock to test for levels of deadly gases.

Anguished relatives voiced frustration as poisonous gases prevented rescuers from entering a New Zealand coal mine today, a day after a powerful blast left 29 workers missing underground.

Rescuers were waiting for gas levels and the risk of a second explosion to drop today so they can enter New Zealand’s biggest underground coal mine to search for 29 men still missing more than 24 hours after a powerful blast tore through the tunnel.

MORE than 100 Chinese miners were pulled out alive yesterday after being trapped for over a week in a flooded coal mine, where some ate sawdust and strapped themselves to the shafts’ walls with their belts to avoid drowning while they slept.

The first group of rescuers and divers today entered a flooded Chinese mine where 153 workers have been trapped for almost a week, but returned within hours and described the situation underground “very difficult.”