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Operations suspended as mark of respect
Missing in action: Workers gather in solidarity for colleagues trapped after the roof of a tunnel suddenly collapsed at a Freeport Indonesia mine in Mimika, Papua
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Missing in action: Workers gather in solidarity for colleagues trapped after the roof of a tunnel suddenly collapsed at a Freeport Indonesia mine in Mimika, Papua. Freeport halted its mining activities on Wednesday as rescuers using jacks, saws and wheelbarrows dug through the rubble is search of some 25 trapped workers, the mine operator said. (AP) (AP)
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span class="inline inline-none">Missing in action: Workers gather in solidarity for colleagues trapped after the roof of a tunnel suddenly collapsed at a Freeport Indonesia mine in Mimika, Papua. Freeport halted its mining activities on Wednesday as rescuers using jacks, saws and wheelbarrows dug through the rubble is search of some 25 trapped workers, the mine operator said. (AP)
PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI), the Indonesian affiliate of US-based miner Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., decided to suspend mining activities following the landslide at the Big Gossan training facility in Mimika, Papua, on Tuesday.
'PTFI is suspending operations at the site two days after the landslide as a mark of condolence and sympathy for those who died. The work stoppage is temporary,' PTFI corporate communications vice president Daisy Primayanti said in a press release on Thursday.
On Tuesday, dozens of PTFI workers were buried by a landslide during safety training in a classroom at the Big Gossan underground site at around 7:45 a.m. The incident is situated some 500 meters from the entrance of the Big Gossan mine.
Attempts to rescue the workers have been hampered by the confined and restricted space within the tunnel.
On Thursday at around 2:50 p.m., rescuers found the body of Rooy Kailuhu. On the third day after the disaster, rescuers managed to evacuate 15 employees, 10 of whom were still alive. Twenty-three others are reportedly still trapped in the tunnel.
The Papua Police will conduct an investigation into the cause of Tuesday's underground tunnel landslide.
'The Papua Police will send an investigative team, led by general crimes and intelligence director Sr. Comr. Bambang Priambudi, to find out the cause of the landslide and question employees about the incident,' said Papua Police chief spokesman Sr. Comr. I Gede Sumerta Jaya in Jayapura on Thursday.
Sumerta expressed that his thoughts were with the well-being of the trapped workers as rescuers continue to pump air into the tunnel to maintain an adequate supply of oxygen. PTFI flew in four psychologists to provide counseling and trauma handling for the survivors.
Apart from the suspension of mining activities, PTFI also postponed negotiations with the Indonesian Workers' Union Chemical, Energy and Mining Federation regarding the 2013-2015 Joint Working Agreement.
PTFI president director Rozik B. Soetjipto visited the landslide area on Thursday accompanied by Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry coal and minerals chief Thamrin Sihite.
PTFI operates the Grasberg mine in Papua, which has the largest gold reserves and the second-largest copper mine in the world.
It is not the first time such an incident has occurred at the PTFI mining area. In December 2009, a worker died and four others were injured in a landslide, while in May 2008, at least 20 Papuan gold miners were buried in a landslide at PTFI's tailing area following two days of heavy rain.
A landslide in November 2007 injured 13 workers and in March 2006, two people were killed after a landslide buried an employee cafeteria at the Grasberg Mine.
