The Jakarta Globe, December 11, 2012
Bandung. One miner is dead and at least 21 more are missing after a landslide hit a traditional gold mining operation in Cisolok on Monday night, police said.
West Java Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Martinus Sitompul said the landslide buried the mine in West Java's Sukabumi district at around 5:00 p.m. on Monday.
"Five were found safe and sound, one dead and one injured," Martinus said, adding that the landslide was caused by heavy rains on Monday afternoon.
He said that at least 21 miners were believed to be trapped inside the mine or had been swept away by the rapid waters of the Cipanengah river which is located below the entrance of the mine. Martinus added that the mine is located on a steep slope some 20 to 25 meters above the ground.
"They were mining gold and heavy rains fell and the landslide struck. Some of the victims may have been swept away by the current of the Cipanengah river," Martinus said.
Twelve houses were also buried during the landslide and two bridges, Cibareno that connects Sukabumi to the Banten province, and Cikahuripun were also destroyed.
“We're in the [landslide] site with some officers to help the victims,” head of the Sukabumi search and rescue agency Okih Fajri said, as quoted by Antaranews.com on Monday.
“Cisolok subdistrict is prone to landslides because most of the locations are on a steep hill surface, many houses are built on the hills,” Okih said. “Those whose houses were covered [by the landslide] have been evacuated.”
Usman Susilo, the head of the logistics and emergency department of the Sukabumi district disaster mitigation office, said that the search and rescue operations had to be done manually.
"It is really difficult to take heavy machineries to the location," Usman explained.
He said that search efforts involved 150 people, from various military and police units as well as civilians but added that search efforts on Monday evening were hampered by heavy rains.
Usman said that the precise number of people inside the mine when the landslide struck was still unknown.
"We are still looking for witnesses who know how many colleagues were inside. At present the data is still confusing," Usman said.
Sigit Udjwalaparana, the head of the Sukabumi district disaster mitigation office, also concurred saying that information about the number of unaccounted people had not been confirmed.
"But we will search as well as we can," he said.
Sigit said that it may also be the case that many people were sheltering from the rain in the area and were not actually working in the mine, when the landslide struck.
di 11 dec 2012 - 7:35