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Rescuers search for 8 trapped in Central Java illegal gold mine
Unlicensed mines -- many with complete disregard for even the most basic of safety measures -- are common across Indonesia and accidents are frequent.
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Rescue workers insert a hose to extract water from an illegal gold mining pit at Pancurendang village in Banyumas, on July 26, 2023, in an effort to rescue eight miners trapped underground. (AFP/Dida Nuswantara)
Rescuers raced against the clock Wednesday to save eight people trapped in an illegal gold mine in Central Java officials said.
Unlicensed mines -- many with complete disregard for even the most basic of safety measures -- are common across Indonesia and accidents are frequent.
The miners were digging inside a 60-metre-deep (200 feet) hole in Pancurendang village in Banyumas on Tuesday evening when water suddenly flooded the illegal mine, police said.
With oxygen fast running out and the potential for severe flooding of the mine shaft, the rescue effort was being aided by the military and had turned to getting the water out.
"We received a report this morning that eight people were trapped inside a mine, right now we are still trying to suck the water out, we are focusing on saving the miners' lives," the local police chief Edy Suranta Sitepu told reporters Wednesday.
The workers went into the mine at 8 pm (1300 GMT) Tuesday and have been trapped since, he said.
"We don't know their current condition, let's pray so they can be evacuated safely," said Edy, who added the mine was unlicensed.
Divers would be sent to look for the miners if attempts to draw the water out of the mine failed, Amin Riyanto, a coordinator for the search-and-rescue team, told reporters.
Most of the trapped workers had moved from West Java to mine in the region, police said.
In 2021, six people were killed on Sulawesi island in an illegal gold mine collapse.
At least 16 people were killed two years earlier when another illegal gold mine on the island collapsed and buried the workers.
In 2016, 11 miners died after a mudslide engulfed an illegal gold mine in Jambi province.
