Search continues for Pongkor landslide victims

BOGOR (JP): Police are battling harsh terrain in the search for illegal miners believed trapped in Saturday's fatal landslide at the Pongkor gold mine, an officer said on Monday.

Bogor Regional Police chief Col. Hari Setyabudhi told reporters that a special police rescue team complained of difficulties due to the rugged mountain location.

"My officers reported the location is muddy, steep and slippery."

He declined to estimate the number of victims and said he learned of the accident from media reports.

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

On Sunday, nine bodies were recovered, with a food vendor among the dead. Locals said the site had become a thriving business area populated by illegal miners and vendors.

A military officer at the scene, Corp. Suwara, identified the first four victims as local residents Asri, Junaedi, Marhan and Sugandi.

Also killed were Juhari of Cigudeg, Bogor; Antonius Sigit of Medan, North Sumatra; Jefri from South Sulawesi and Neni, the food vendor, from Tangerang.

Most of the victims were in their 30s.

Other illegal miners and locals believed more victims were trapped under the mud or had drowned in the Cikaniki River running through the site.

Mulyana, an eyewitness, recalled that hundreds of people, including food vendors and illegal miners, were at the location when the accident occurred at about 2 p.m.

Dozens were panning for gold in the river.

"The landslide happened so suddenly and the people were buried at once."

He believed the landslide was caused by the incessant downpour of the past few days.

A trek of three to four hours is required to reach the steep mining site, which is under the authority of state-owned general mining company PT Aneka Tambang.

The landslide is the biggest in the number of victims involved from a series of accidents at the site within the past six months. At least 37 people have died and 35 injured.

On Nov. 28, 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 which were erected by the illegal miners.

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

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

Aneka Tambang's calls for the illegal workers to leave the site have been ignored.

Illegal miners clashed with the company's security guards last month.

On Dec. 3, hundreds of the miners went on the rampage, destroying several buildings and burning at least 11 company vehicles.

The riot was triggered by a rumor that one of the miners had been shot dead by the company's security guards. The rumor proved untrue.

The firm's president Dedy Aditya Sumanagara said recently that at least 1,500 illegal miners had been working at Pongkor since 1997.

Dedy was quoted by Kompas daily as saying the number of illegal miners had increased due to the drastic increase in the price of gold. (24/jun)