More than 10,000 people attended a memorial service for the 29 miners killed in a New Zealand coal mine. Mourners around the country observed a two minutes' silence for the dead. The memorial service in Greymouth featured 29 tables on which the personal belongings of the miners had been placed by relatives. A series of underground explosions which began on 19 November killed the men at Pike River Mine as toxic gases prevented any rescue operation. A Royal Commission of Inquiry has been ordered into how the tragedy occurred.