Mine area clash leaves one dead

Mine area clash leaves one dead

JAKARTA (JP): A man was killed and two others were seriously
injured on Monday in a massive clash that started when hundreds
of illegal gold miners attacked local Cisarua villagers in Bogor
regency on Monday.

The dead man was identified as H. Idin, 46, a local resident,
while the identities of the two injured people were not yet
known.

During the clash, some 14 houses were burned down and several
others were vandalized, Antara reported.

The incident took place apparently in retaliation to an
earlier attack by local residents on kiosks owned by newcomers to
the Mt. Pongkor gold mines, apparently because of reports that
people were running brothels in the area.

Approximately 800 people, apparently miners and other
newcomers, arrived in stages at the village in 18 trucks and set
fire to and vandalized houses.

The villagers did not anticipate the attack and were hit
completely unaware.

The rampage did not spread to neighboring villages as security
personnel arrived quickly and drove the attackers away.

After the clash, many illegal miners have been forced to move
to safer places.

According to police, no one was arrested, and police said they
were still trying to find the people responsible for the bloody
incident.