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Landslides kill 10 in Sulawesi, 40 missing
Rescue operations in Gorontalo were halted on Monday evening due to bad weather as the toll from the landslide on Sunday was revised to 10 dead and 40 still missing.
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Rescue team personnel use a stretcher on July 8, 2024 to transport a landslide survivor across a suspended bridge in Tulabolo village, Bone Bolango regency, Gorontalo. An official said on the same day that least 11 people had been killed and 19 were missing after heavy rain caused a landslide near an illegal gold mine in the province on Sulawesi Island. (AFP/Didot)
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t least 10 people had died and 40 were missing after torrential rain caused a landslide at a gold mine in Sulawesi’s Gorontalo province at the weekend, officials said on Monday, with bad weather hampering rescue efforts.
The landslide on Sunday morning in Suwawa district, Gorontalo, killed miners and residents living nearby, said Heriyanto, head of the Gorontalo office of the Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas).
Small-scale and illegal mining is a flash point for conflicts and accidents in Indonesia, where mineral resources are often situated in remote and protected forest areas that are difficult for the government to regulate.
"We have deployed 164 personnel, consisting of the national rescue team, police and military personnel, to search for the missing people," Heriyanto said.
Earlier on Monday, the agency said at least 12 people had died and 18 were missing, a toll that was updated later in the day to 10 dead and 40 missing.
By Monday evening, rescuers had halted their search due to heavy rain, said the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB).
Read also: Weather fluctuation causes unusual heavy rain in dry season
Rescuers had to walk about 20 kilometers to reach the landslide site and were being hampered by thick mud over the road and continuing rain in the area, Heriyanto said.
"We will try to use an excavator once it's possible," he said.
Photos of the affected village shared by the agency showed that some houses had been flattened by the landslide.
The BNPB said the landslide damaged several houses and one bridge. It warned residents that further rain was expected in some areas in Gorontalo on Monday and Tuesday and urged them to be alert.
In May, flash floods and mudslides caused by torrential rain killed more than 50 people in West Sumatra. In April, a landslide caused by high-intensity rainfall killed at least 18 people in South Sulawesi.
