How tragedy at Ballarat Gold Mine unfolded from half a kilometre underground

Kurt Hourigan was deep inside a historic Ballarat mine, two hours away from finishing his shift, when rocks came crashing down.

Kurt Hourigan was two hours away from finishing his shift and returning home to his loved ones.

Deep inside a historic Ballarat mine, the father was toiling alongside a colleague, but in an unimaginable instant, rocks came crashing down.

It was in that mine, half a kilometre underground, that Mr Hourigan lost his life.

The Ballarat Gold Mine where Kurt Hourigan died. Picture: Ian Wilson

Crews managed to pull his colleague, who was also pinned by the rubble, out alive.

But Mr Hourigan could not be saved, his body retrieved in a delicate recovery mission.

Nearby, 29 of their colleagues scrambled to a safety pod in the gold mine, situated on Mount Clear, to shelter from the collapse.

Within hours, they were safe on solid ground.

But in coming days and months, the miners will have to grapple with how a regular Wednesday at work turned deadly.

Kurt Hourigan was killed in the mine collapse.

For the people of Ballarat, who have only begun to grieve missing mum Samantha Murphy, there is disbelief that tragedy could return so soon to their town.

But for some, they knew it was only a matter of time until disaster struck.

The union had begged the owners of the site to stop permitting the miners to work on “unsupported” ground.

Their pleas fell on deaf ears.

WorkSafe investigators outside the Ballarat Gold Mine on Thursday. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Instead, the mine’s safety manager was made redundant months before the tragedy.

But Australian Workers Union state secretary Ronnie Hayden said he could hazard a guess as to why the miners’ lives were put at risk.

“This was a quick, cheap and easy way to chase gold,” he said.

Dozens of reporters sat patiently outside the mine’s entrance on Thursday, waiting to see if Mr Hourigan’s friends, family or co-workers would arrive to pay tribute.

A single mine staffer, wearing yellow hi-vis and work boots, patrolled the front gate, pacing back and forth as he waved vehicles through.

He stood solemnly with his hands behind his back as light rain continued to fall.

The union’s Ronnie Hayden says working on unsupported ground was a ‘quick, cheap and easy way to chase gold’. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

It was at that gate that one worried mother was told on Wednesday night to call the mine for news about the safety of her son.

After holding an extraordinary late-night press conference, Victoria Police Inspector Lisa MacDougall was back in front of the cameras on Thursday morning.

Before the update got underway, the weary-eyed officer noted her lack of sleep after a tumultuous night, before soldiering on.

A single staffer stands guard at the entrance of the mine. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

As the news broke on Wednesday night, memories were sparked of another horrific mine collapse that hit the headlines nearly 20 years ago.

Beaconsfield miners Todd Russell and Brant Webb survived a fortnight in a tiny steel cage after an earthquake trapped them almost a kilometre underground.

Mr Webb and Mr Russell were surrounded by 800 tonnes of rock and dirt but survived by sharing a muesli bar and drinking the groundwater in their helmets, which seeped through the rocks above.

Mr Hourigan was not as ­fortunate.

His family must now begin to plan his funeral as the loved ones of his colleague hold a bedside vigil, hoping and praying the young miner survives.