May 11 2021 A landslide triggered by heavy rains at a gold mine in Indonesia’s West Sumatra province has killed eight miners, injured eight others and left one missing.
Indonesia’s official Antara news agency reported monday that the “illegal gold mining mine” involved in the accident was located in South Solok County in the country’s West Sumatra province. Heavy rains from the evening of the 9th to the morning of the 10th caused the mountain around the gold mine to collapse. At about 7:30 local time on the 10th, mountains and mudslides mixed with rocks and trees buried the mining area.
Rescuers managed to rescue eight survivors and take them to a nearby hospital, according to Fikri, the head of the rescue agency at the scene. By the 11th, eight miners were killed, and one is missing, rescue workers are trying to search for the missing.
It was the second landslide to hit the Indonesian island of Sumatra in two weeks. Two weeks ago, 10 people were killed and three were missing in a landslide at a hydroelectric power plant site in North Sumatra province.
Every year during the rainy season, Indonesia experiences severe flooding that causes deaths and injuries. Last month, Tropical Cyclone Seroja hit the country’s eastern and west Nusa Tenggara provinces, killing more than 200 people and leaving tens of thousands without homes.
Of the 1,205 natural disasters that occurred in the country in the first four months of this year, floods were the most frequent, with 501, according to Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Agency.
