THE parents of a man killed in a mining accident in New Zealand have pledged to mark the first anniversary of his death by putting aside their anger over safety concerns to remember their son.

Malcolm and Jane Campbell lost Malcolm, 25, of St Andrews in Fife, in an explosion at the Pike River mine on November 19, last year.

Pete Rodger, 40, from Perthshire, was also killed along with 27 other men.

Initially it was thought the men might be rescued but a second explosion five days later dashed any hopes of their survival.

An inquiry has now been launched in Atarau on the country’s South Island amid concerns over the health and safety procedures at the mine.

Malcolm Campbell Snr said yesterday: “There’s a lot of not very nice things coming out of the commission inquiry – the boys shouldn’t really have been down there.

“But we’re going to try to put all the anger and feelings of who’s to blame aside this weekend to try to just get through it and think of Malcolm and the boys.”

Mr Campbell and his wife Jane have been campaigning to have their son’s body removed from the mine, now up for sale, and returned home.

New Zealand’s Government has said any buyer must try to recover the miners’ bodies though there are fears the atmosphere in the mine remains unstable.

Mr Campbell said four bids for the mine had since been tendered, offering hope that the family can finally lay their son to rest in Scotland.

He said: “It’s very difficult for us at the moment. There’s nowhere to lay flowers, there’s nowhere for us to go and visit him

“We are just looking to get some kind of answers and some kind of closure. But that’s not going to be until we get Malcolm home.

“We have not had a lot of closure at all with his body still down there. It has been a hard year. Our focus has been just to try to keep the pressure on to bring Malcolm home.

“My wife has lost her mother, father and son all within 14 months of each other. We just want to bring Malcolm home and lay him to rest besides his granny and granddad.

“It could take a year or two years but we are hopeful and we are staying optimistic.

“We have every confidence that we will be able to get him home but if it doesn’t happen it won’t be for the want of trying and I’m sure Malcolm will know that.”

As well as the continuing inquiry, the New Zealand Government has filed 25 criminal charges on alleged health and safety violations relating to the mine explosion. Each charge carries a maximum fine of NZ$250,000 (£122,000).

However, Mr Campbell has insisted he and his wife are “not looking to blame anyone”.

Details of the investigation made “hard listening”, he said.

“We have mixed feelings about everything that is coming out. It is quite hard, especially all the damning evidence coming out at the moment of other people not doing their jobs.

“It was a tragic, tragic accident but it looks like they have not done very well on the health and safety side. We are not looking to blame anyone, we just want him home.”

Around 2500 people are expected to pay tribute to the dead miners in a ceremony in New Zealand on Saturday. A private ceremony will also be held for the families of the miners and a memorial will be unveiled.

The event will end with a period of silence at 3.44pm New Zealand time, when the first explosion occurred one year ago.

The Campbells are marking the anniversary in private. Mr Campbell said: “We just need to spend some time by ourselves and have a quiet time.”