Gold miners run amok over shooting rumor
Gold miners run amok over shooting rumor
BOGOR (JP): Hundreds of illegal miners at the Pongkor gold
mine in Bogor went on the rampage on Thursday, destroying some
buildings and burning at least 11 vehicles belonging to the
state-owned mining company PT Aneka Tambang, the owner of the
mine site, an official said on Friday.
The company's corporate secretary, Dohar Siregar, said in a
statement made available to The Jakarta Post that the riot was
triggered by a rumor that one of the miners had been shot dead by
the company's security guards.
"The rumor was baseless as the miner mentioned merely suffered
a minor injury," Siregar said.
He said the miners brutally attacked and burned the company's
facilities at the Pongkor unit, but were pacified by police
officers deployed there. No fatalities were reported during the
attack, which caused huge losses, he said, adding that these
losses were still being counted.
The riot began at 3 p.m. when police officers and soldiers
were on guard at the mine where at least four miners were killed
on Nov. 28 after being buried in the collapsing shaft, witnesses
said.
The officers and soldiers ordered hundreds of the illegal
workers to leave the site. As their order was disobeyed, they
were later involved in clashes.
One of the officers fired a warning shot to disperse the
miners from crowding the scene, but unfortunately the bullet hit
the ear of one of the miners, identified as Ahmad, a resident of
a nearby Leuwi Sadeng village.
Upon seeing their friend was injured, the miners then went to
the company office and started to damage the facilities.
Bogor Regional Police Chief Col. Hari Setyabudhi said on
Friday that police were still searching for the miners who
attacked and burned the facilities.
"We have identified the culprits in the riot," Hari said,
adding that police had not yet made any arrest.
On Nov. 28 the four illegal miners were killed and a soldier
was severely injured when the shaft at the Pongkor mine caved in.
No rain was reported during the accident, and it was believed
that the cave-in was caused by the collapse of the shaft's
support poles that had been erected by the illegal miners.
On Oct. 18, last year, five illegal workers were killed when
heavy rainfall caused a mine tunnel to collapse.
Six other illegal workers were killed when a huge tree
collapsed on them at the mine on July 21 of this year.
Aneka Tambang has often called for the illegal workers to stop
their mining activities, but the calls have been ignored.
The company had invested Rp 100 billion (US$13 million) in the
mine which started operation on the 4,058-hectare site in 1993.
(24/jun)