15 die in Indonesia mine collapse after rain causes landslide, 25 missing
Villagers were digging for grains of gold at the remote illegal mine in West Sumatra
A landslide triggered by torrential rains struck an unauthorised gold mining operation on Indonesia’s Sumatra island, killing at least 15 people, officials said on Friday. More than two dozen others were reported missing.
Villagers were digging Thursday for grains of gold in the remote Solok district of West Sumatra province when mud plunged down the surrounding hills and buried them, said Irwan Effendi, head of the local disaster mitigation agency office.
He said at least 25 people were still buried, and that three people were pulled out alive with injuries.
The Solok district disaster agency said in a statement that the landslide took place at an abandoned “illegal” mine.
“The landslide location is on an old mining pit that had been abandoned by previous miners,” it said.
