The disaster agency in Indonesia’s West Java province claims search efforts are ongoing to find missing people buried beneath the rubble. At least 10 people have been killed since a stone quarry collapsed.
At the mining site at Cirebon, West Java, early on Friday, the collapse occurred. Excavators moving large rocks, and emergency workers transporting victims to ambulances with body bags are visible from the scene of the accident.
Rescuers reportedly struggled to remove a body from the devastated area in video that was available online. Another example showed people fleeing their homes as thick dust piled up from an overgrown rock and soil pile.
At least 10 people have been killed, according to Indonesia’s National Agency for Disaster Countermeasure (BNPB), but no number have been released as of yet. According to the statement, rescue operations would continue throughout Saturday and include the burial of three heavy machinery, including three excavators.
According to Cirebon district police chief Sumarni, who uses a single name, a dozen injured people have already been extracted from the debris during a grueling search operation.
Sumarni claimed that the owner and quarry workers have been called in for questioning, adding that authorities are looking into the cause of the collapse. He claimed that five excavators, along with police, firefighters, soldiers, and volunteers are attempting to locate any additional workers who have been trapped. He continued, “Rescue efforts are being hampered by unstable soil, which could lead to further slides.”
West Java governor Dedi Mulyadi claimed the site “very dangerous” and did not “meet safety standards for workers” on his Instagram account. The governor continued, noting that he “had no capacity to stop it,” because the mine had been opened prior to his election.
Mulyadi announced that he would close the Gunung Kuda mine and four other locations in West Java that are deemed to be hazardous to people’s health and the environment.
Illegal mining operations are prevalent throughout Indonesia, giving low-wage workers a precarious livelihood while also exposing them to serious injuries and fatalities as a result of landslides, flooding, and tunnel collapses. Employers use highly toxic materials like mercury and cyanide without much or no protection for a large portion of the processing of sand, rock, or gold ore.
At least six people were killed in a landslide and floods near a small mine run by local residents in Indonesia’s West Papua province in May when a torrential rain in the Arfak Mountains triggered a landslide and floods.
At least 15 people were killed when a torrential rain-related landslide struck an unlicensed gold mining operation on Indonesia’s Sumatra island last year, causing at least 15 casualties.
Source: Aljazeera
Leave a Reply