Rescue workers have ended their search for victims killed in a major coal mine explosion in West Sumatra, with all workers now accounted for, officials said Thursday.
The search operation was stopped late on Wednesday afternoon after rescuers recovered the last of a total 31 bodies from the mine in Sawahlunto regency, hit by the explosion on Tuesday.
Sawahlunto police meanwhile sealed the mine with wooden planks, and surrounded the site with a police line.
Thirty-one people had died in the mine explosion, said Syafriwal, head of the local mining, industry, trade and cooperative office.
The last body had been recovered on Wednesday afternoon, Syafriwal said.
"Last night, all evacuation team members and West Sumatra administration held an evaluation meeting and agreed that all the victims had been recovered from the mine," Syafriwal said.
Nine other injured miners had been hospitalized in Sawahlunto, including one with severe burns.
In a recent development, West Sumatra Governor Gamawan Fauzi donated Rp 5 million each to the families of the deceased.
Gamawan said he hoped the deadly explosion would be the last accident in the mine, ordering local coal mining firms to improve their safety standards and equipment.
A team from the mining and minerals directorate were still investigating the cause of the undergound explosion, Syafriwal said.
The blast may have been triggered by a buildup of methane gas in the mine, which local officials said had contained dangerously high levels of gas. As of Thursday, all 13 coal mining firms in Sawahlunto had to temporarily stop operations near the blast site, following an order from the city's mayor.
The 13 companies included PT Dasrat Sarana Arang Sejati, which holds a license to mine at the site of the explosion.
"The stoppage has been ordered to allow for an inspection of the mines and their safety facilities.
"They will not be allowed to resume operations before meeting occupational safety standards," Syafriwal said.
The 13 firms employ around 1,000 workers to mine coal for several local industries, including the Sijantang power plant in Ombilin, Sawahlunto.
"We hope those companies can make their facilities comply with safety regulations quickly, because we are worried that the suspension of mining operations could affect coal supplies, particularly for the Sijantang power plant.
"However, for the next two-and-a-half months we have a certain amount of *coal* stocks for several industries," Syafriwal said.
Sawahlunto is rich in coal reserves that have been mined there since the Dutch colonial rule in Indonesia in 1892.
Nowadays, however, miners must dig deeper to access Sawahlunto's high-grade coal, in an underground mine that is dangerous because of its high concentrations of methane gas.
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