Families of those killed at Pike River in 2010 have been left astonished by a new version of what happened that could explain why more of the men didn't walk out.
They were told on Wednesday night the Royal Commission into the disaster got aspects of its findings wrong.
An electrical expert said a massive rockfall may have trapped the men inside shortly after the first explosion, not after the second explosion five days later as previously thought.
Richard Healey spent 18 months investigating what happened at Pike River and he revealed his findings to the victims' families on Wednesday.
When the mine exploded on November 19, 2010, 29 people didn't make it out and only two did.
Video obtained by Newshub showing a massive rockfall inside the mine was always thought to have happened sometime after the second explosion on November 24. But Healey offered a different theory.
He says he has scans from the mine interior that show two cables hanging from the wall, which are consistent with being pulled down by rocks in a rockfall.
His scans were taken after the first explosion, not the second. He says that means the men were possibly trapped alive for days behind the debris.
"If that rockfall did occur during that first explosion, that meant no one was walking out of that mine."
Steve Rose, the father of Stuart Mudge who died in the explosion, says Healey's theory is "entirely feasible".
"It could explain that if there were survivors why they never walked out.
"Bernie Monk, Dean Dunbar, and Richard Healey have done an amazing job. Richard's incredible."
Mudge's mother Carol Rose says it blows everything they've been told, "completely out of the water".
"The information that they've uncovered is of national importance," she says.
Healey also revealed new information relating to the mine's electrics.
"The electrical data - the Royal Commission absolutely got it wrong. They looked at one event. There were, in fact, two events."
Healey says the electrical event the Commission missed was a fuse blowing deep in the mine. That wasn't investigated and could have been the ignition source for the original explosion.
He also says a fresh air fan was misprogrammed to over-report airflow in the mine, which he believes means there wasn't enough ventilation to be mining coal.
Dean Dunbar's 17-year-old son Joseph died on his first day of work at Pike River. He believes mine management should be held accountable.
"We got to put these guys in a court of law and let the justice system run its course," he says.
Police told Newshub it could not comment on the new information while its scene examination of the mine is ongoing. But it says anyone with information they believe is important should get in contact.
