A landslide triggered by torrential rains crashed onto an unauthorized gold mining operation on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island, killing at least 11 people, said the officials.
While nineteen others were reported missing. About 35 villagers were digging for grains of gold on Sunday in a pit at the small traditional gold mine in remote Bone Bolango district in Gorontalo province when tons of mud plunged down the surrounding hills and buried them.
He said rescuers saved five injured people on Sunday and had recovered 11 bodies by Monday. Rescuers are still searching for 19 others who were reported missing, he said.
Ilahude said, ‘Relief efforts for the dead and missing were hampered by heavy rain and blocked roads covered with thick mud and debris’, Ilahude said. He said rescuers were having difficulty in evacuating three of the recovered bodies.
National Disaster Management Agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari said torrential rains that have pounded the area since Saturday also broke an embankment, causing floods of up to 3 metres (10 feet) in five villages in Bone Bolango.
Nearly 300 houses were affected and more than 1,000 people have fled for safety. Informal mining operations are common in Indonesia, providing a livelihood to thousands who labour in conditions with a high risk of serious injury or death.
Landslides, flooding and collapses of tunnels are just some of the hazards facing miners. Much of gold ore processing involves highly toxic mercury and cyanide and workers use little or no protection.
The country’s last major mining-related accident occurred in April 2022 when a landslide crashed onto an illegal traditional gold mine in North Sumatra’s Mandailing Natal district, killing 12 women who were looking for gold.
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