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Seven killed in landslide at West Sumatra gold mine
Torrential rains triggered a landslide on Monday, inundating the mine with mud mixed with stones and debris in South Solok regency, West Sumatra, said the local emergency agency head Fikri.
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This handout photo taken on May 11, 2021 and released by Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management (BNPB) shows rescuers retrieving bodies after a landslide at a gold mine in south Solok, West Sumatra province, where at least seven people were killed and one reported missing.
(AFP/Handout)
At least seven people were killed and one reported missing after a landslide at a West Sumatra gold mine, authorities said Tuesday.
Torrential rains triggered a landslide on Monday, inundating the mine with mud mixed with stones and debris in South Solok regency, West Sumatra, said the local emergency agency head Fikri.
In a statement, the agency said "at least seven killed and one is missing".
Rescuers managed to save nine survivors from the mud and were combing the area to find the missing miner, Fikri said.
"Initially, rescuers were having difficulties to evacuate victims to a rescue vehicle because the terrain at the site was challenging," Fikri said, but in the end all survivors went to hospital for emergency treatment.
The disaster occurred just two weeks after another landslide hit the Chinese-backed Batang Toru hydropower project in North Sumatra, killing 10 people.
Three people were still missing when rescuers ended their search last week.
Fatal landslides and flash floods are common across the country during the rainy season.
Last month, more than 200 people were killed in a cluster of far-eastern islands and neighbouring Timor Leste as Tropical Cyclone Seroja turned small communities into wastelands of mud and uprooted trees.
It is estimated that 125 million people -- nearly half of the country's population -- live in areas at risk of landslides.
