A mining location in Solok, West Sumatra, reportedly experienced a landslide that buried dozens of people.
A mining location in Solok, West Sumatra, reportedly experienced a landslide that buried dozens of people.
A landslide at a gold mine in western Indonesia has killed at least 15 people and left 25 missing, the local disaster agency said on Friday.

The landslide hit a remote site in West Sumatra province on Sumatra island on Thursday evening after heavy rain in the area, said provincial disaster mitigation agency spokesperson Ilham Wahab.

"The information we can provide was that a landslide occurred at a gold mine last night, causing several people to be buried. Efforts to search for the victims are ongoing," he said.

Ilham added that three people were injured and 25 were still missing.

Irwan Efendi, the head of the provincial disaster agency, said rescuers must trek eight hours to get to the site, which is inaccessible by road. He added: "The victims are the residents who manually mine for gold."


The villagers were digging for grains of gold when mud plunged down the surrounding hills and buried them, he said.

Ilham could not confirm if the mine in question was illegal but said all activities at the site had been halted as search efforts for the missing were ongoing.

Small-scale and illegal mining has often caused accidents in Indonesia, with mineral resources located in remote areas in conditions difficult for authorities to regulate.

Unlicensed mines are common across the mineral-rich Southeast Asian archipelago, where abandoned sites attract locals who hunt for leftover gold ore without proper safety equipment.

In July, at least 27 people were killed at the site of an illegal gold mine on the central Indonesian island of Sulawesi after torrential rain triggered a landslide and a mountainside collapsed onto homes.

In May, at least 15 people died after landslides and flooding in South Sulawesi province swept away dozens of houses and damaged roads.

Police and military launched a search on Friday for the missing in the latest tragedy, along with steps to evacuate the dead.

Search efforts were being hindered by the mine's remote location, with rescuers having to walk for hours to reach the area.

Indonesia is prone to landslides during the rainy season, typically between November and April.

Reuters

Additional reporting by Associated Press and Agence France-Presse