Indonesia’s disaster agency said on Wednesday rescuers were searching for survivors after more than 60 people were feared buried by the collapse of an illegal gold mine on the island of Sulawesi.
The agency said in a statement one person had been found dead and 13 people rescued by 5am on Wednesday after the collapse the previous evening at the site in the Bolaang Mongondow area of North Sulawesi province.
“When dozens of people were mining for gold at the location, suddenly beams and supporting boards they used broke due to unstable land and numerous mining shafts,” disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.
Photos and video released by the agency showed rescue workers and villagers on a muddy hillside at night scrambling to pull out survivors and carry them away on stretchers.
“Evacuation efforts continued through the night because of the number of people estimated to be buried,” Nugroho said.
He added that the Bolaang Mongondow BNPB was coordinating with the local police, military command,and search and rescue agency to recover the buried miners.
Source: China Global Television Network
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