A bankrupt New Zealand coal company has been ordered to pay compensation to the families of 29 miners, including two Britons, killed in a 2010 methane explosion - though they may receive just a fraction of the payout.

A third blast erupted today inside the New Zealand mine where 29 workers were killed in an earlier explosion.

Experts said today it could take weeks or months before the bodies of the victims of New Zealand’s mining disaster were recovered.

New Zealand’s prime minister said today hope was fading for 29 coal miners missing for four days underground after an explosion.