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.