Death toll rises to 23 after landslide at illegal gold mine in Indonesia | Environmental news

The search for missing people continues after torrential rains sparked disaster in a remote village on the island of Sulawesi.

Indonesian rescue workers are digging through mountains of mud and rubble to search for missing people after a landslide at an illegal gold mine on the island of Sulawesi killed at least 23 people, with the death toll likely to rise.

At least 35 people are still missing, a rescue official said on Tuesday after the incident on the central island.

Hundreds of rescue workers and a helicopter were dispatched to the area, more than 2,000 kilometers east of the capital Jakarta.

Unlicensed mines are widespread across the mineral-rich Southeast Asian archipelago. Abandoned sites attract locals who search for leftover gold ore without proper safety equipment. A quarter of the more than 8,600 unlicensed mines are gold mines.

The landslide struck a remote village in Bone Bolango district of Gorontalo province on Sunday after heavy rains buried miners and nearby residents.

Rescue worker Ida Bagus Nyoman Ngurah Asrama told AFP news agency that 66 people had survived.

More than 270 people, including police officers and soldiers, have been involved in the search and rescue operation over the past two days.

Afifuddin Ilahude, a local rescue official, said authorities had dispatched rescue workers with heavy equipment, but the operation was complicated by heavy rains, unstable ground and rugged, forested terrain.

“With many people missing and some remote areas still inaccessible, the death toll is likely to rise,” Ilahude said, adding that sniffer dogs were currently being mobilized.

Abdul Muhari, spokesman for the National Disaster Management Agency, said the rains that hit the mountainous region triggered a landslide and a dam burst, causing roof-to-roof flooding in five villages in Bone Bolango.

Almost 300 houses were affected and more than 1,000 people sought their lives.

“The miners felt a vibration and then the area was buried within seconds. It all happened so fast, not even a few seconds,” Muhari told Al Jazeera.

According to authorities, 79 miners were employed in the mine to dig for gold.

Miner Nopri told news channel MetroTV that he was buried under about a meter of rubble for about eight hours before he emerged from the mountain.

He and his companions survived by breathing air that came through gaps in the rubble and had some water left to quench their thirst, but they had to wait for rescue, he added, Reuters reported.

“When we tried to get out, the earth started falling back,” he said. “So we just accepted it and waited for help.”

Landslides are common in Indonesia, and the risk is often increased by deforestation and illegal small-scale mining in remote areas that are difficult for authorities to regulate.

Landslides, floods and tunnel collapses are just some of the dangers miners face. Highly toxic mercury and cyanide are often used in gold ore processing.

The country’s last major mining accident occurred in April 2022, when a landslide destroyed an illegal gold mine in Mandailing Natal district of North Sumatra, killing 12 women.

In May, at least 15 people died when landslides and floods washed away dozens of homes and damaged roads in South Sulawesi province.