Indonesian landslide triggered by heavy rain leaves 11 dead and dozens missing at illegal gold mine

Indonesia’s AKARTA (AP) — At least eleven persons were killed when a landslide on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, caused by heavy rains, smashed over an illegal gold mining operation, according to officials. On Monday, dozens more people were listed as missing.

Heriyanto, the Director of the Search and Rescue Office, stated that on Sunday, tons of mud fell from the surrounding hills and buried the improvised camps of over 100 peasants who were searching for gold grains in the isolated Bone Bolango region of Gorontalo province.

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He said that 44 persons, including six injured, were rescued from the landslide, some of them were hauled out alive. Officials revised the initial death toll of 12 to 11 after finding that one of the deceased had been named twice. He added that 48 more people are missing.

According to rescue official Afifuddin Ilahude, “heavy rain and blocked roads covered with thick mud and debris hampered relief efforts for the dead and missing.”

A spokesman for the National Disaster Management Agency, Abdul Muhari, stated that in addition to breaking an embankment, the area’s intense rains since Saturday caused flooding in five villages in Bone Bolango that reached up to three meters (10 feet) in height. More than 1,000 individuals left their homes in search of safety after over 300 of them were damaged.

In Indonesia, informal mining activities are widespread and give thousands of workers a precarious living while putting them at danger of fatalities or severe injuries.

Among the risks that miners face include tunnel collapses, floods, and landslides. Highly hazardous mercury and cyanide are used in a large portion of the processing of gold ore, and workers typically wear little to no protection.

The last significant mining-related disaster in the nation was in April 2022 when a landslide in North Sumatra’s Mandailing Natal region collapsed upon an illegal traditional gold mine, killing twelve gold-seeking women.

Due to shifting soil and an abundance of mining holes, a temporary wooden building at an illegal gold mine in North Sulawesi province fell in February 2019. Over forty persons lost their lives and were buried.