More bodies found in Pongkor landslide

BOGOR (JP): Five more bodies of illegal miners were recovered from the debris of Saturday's fatal landslide at the Pongkor gold mine here, raising the death toll from the incident to 14, according to a report from the local district military command.

The five victims were identified as Marda, a resident of Cikoneng in Lebak, Jainan from Lebak, Mamat from Cipayung, Markomad from Sukabumi and Usep from Tasikmalaya, the military announced on Tuesday.

It was also disclosed that Reinan, a resident of Jasinga in Bogor, suffered severe head injuries during the landslide which occurred at 2 p.m on Saturday.

Witnesses said earlier that at least 30 miners were trapped and feared dead.

Despite the many victims, Bogor Police decided on Tuesday not to set up an evacuation team to search for the victims because of the rugged terrain around the site of the accident, an officer said.

Bogor Police chief Col. Hari Setyabudhi said on Tuesday: "It's useless setting up a search team since we would not be able to do anything because of the rugged location."

He said that further landslides could take place at any time around the site of the mine.

The illegal miners were searching for gold at their own risk, he said. "I almost couldn't believe that they would dare to do it in that terrain," he said, adding that he had assigned between six and 10 officers to guard the area.

On Sunday, nine bodies were recovered, with a food vendor among the dead. Locals said the site, which is under the authority of state mining company PT Aneka Tambang, had become a thriving business area populated by illegal miners and food vendors.

The landslide was caused by heavy rains which fell at the end of last week.

A series of accidents at the site over the last six months have together claimed at least 37 lives, with a further 35 injured. Saturday's landslide had the highest single death toll.

On Nov. 28, four illegal miners were killed and a soldier was severely injured when a shaft at the mine caved in.

On Oct. 18, five illegal miners were killed when heavy rainfall caused a mine tunnel to collapse.

Six more died when a huge tree fell on them at the mine on July 21.

Aneka Tambang's calls for the illegal miners to leave the site have been ignored. (24/jun)