On Monday (May 19), the Indonesian government announced that a gold mine in the eastern end of Papua, Indonesia, was hit by a landslide due to heavy rain, resulting in at least one death and 19 people missing.
According to Abdul Muhari, a spokesperson for Indonesia’s disaster management agency, the small-scale gold mine operated by local residents in the Arfak Mountains of West Papua Province suffered a landslide on Friday night (May 16) due to heavy rain.
The landslide destroyed the makeshift shelters used by the miners, resulting in one death, four injuries, and 19 people missing.
Muhari mentioned that at least 40 rescue personnel, including police and military personnel, have been deployed to the site of the landslide, and search and rescue operations are still ongoing.
Indonesia’s mineral resources are located in remote areas, making government supervision difficult, and accidents resulting in casualties are common due to small-scale and illegal mining.
Yefri Sabaruddin, the local rescue team leader, mentioned that due to the remote location, it took the rescue team at least 12 hours to reach the site after the incident, and search and rescue operations officially began on Sunday (May 18).
“The damaged roads, rugged mountain paths, and harsh weather conditions have hindered the rescue efforts,” he added.
He stated that the number of casualties could still rise.
Last September, an illegal gold mine on the island of West Sumatra suffered a landslide due to heavy rain, resulting in at least 15 deaths.
In July of the same year, another gold mine on the island of Sulawesi experienced a landslide, causing at least 23 deaths.