Watch the moment Didcot Power Station is demolished so that search for three bodies can continue
Ken Cresswell, 57, John Shaw, 61, and Chris Huxtable, 34, were trapped under 20,000 tonnes of rubble after the structure crumbled
SEARCH efforts for three men killed in the Didcot site are to resume after the power station was demolished.
Ken Cresswell, 57, John Shaw, 61, both from Rotherham and Chris Huxtable, 34, from Swansea were trapped under 20,000 tonnes of rubble after the Oxfordshire structure unexpectedly crumbled on February 23 ahead of planned demolition.
Four people died in the disaster but only the body of Michael Collings, 53, of Teeside, was recovered.
Remote-controlled robots brought down the remainder of the RWE Npower-owned power station in a unique operation.
Thames Valley Police confirmed the search for the trio would begin as soon as the area is declared safe.
A spokesman said: “An inspection will now take place to confirm the area and debris pile is safe, and the recovery operation will resume.
“The absolute priority of our multi-agency response remains the recovery of the missing men, so they can be returned to their families, and to understand what caused this tragic incident.”
Last May, the search was stopped when the building was considered too dangerous to be approached and a 50-metre exclusion zone was set up around the building.
Roland Alford, explosives contractor at the power station, said the four-month delay in completing the demolition was necessary.
He said: “There has been quite a lot of criticism about delays, questioning why it has taken so long to get to this point, but the fact is nothing like this has ever been attempted before and this is not a simple demolition.
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“We have been working on it night and day since March and build-up quite a sizeable team of very expert people to work on this to come up with the charges, the methods of doing it and training.”
The tragedy came after the demolition firm Coleman & Company had boasted of its safety work amid soaring profits, which shot up to £2.45million from £890,000 in a year.
They had said the job at the site was “progressing well”.
And its annual accounts stated: “The Didcot power station demolition contract is progressing well and all technical challenges arising have been satisfactorily dealt with to a very high standard.”
Families of the victims previously said they opposed plans to use explosives for the demolition with the bodies inside.
Steve Hall, son-in-law of Ken Cresswell, said: “We want the men back in one piece, not many pieces.”
It is stil not known what the cause of the building to collapse.