Jakarta – Torrential rains forced a halt on May 19 to Indonesia's search for 14 missing in its easternmost region of Papua after a landslide killed six workers at a gold mine and injured four, officials said.

The rains had triggered a landslide on May 16, which hit a small mine run by residents of the Arfak mountains of West Papua province, said Mr Abdul Muhari, the spokesperson of Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency.

The authorities will resume on May 20 their search for those missing after the disaster, which engulfed temporary shelters used by miners.

The search effort was hampered by "damaged roads and mountainous tracks as well as bad weather", Mr Yefri Sabaruddin, the head of a team of 40 rescuers including police and military officials, who retrieved five bodies, told Reuters.

Travelling to the site required 12 hours from the nearest town, he said.

The tally on May 19 was updated from an earlier figure of one dead and 19 missing.

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

The number of casualties could rise.

At least 15 people died in the collapse of an illegal gold mine in West Sumatra province in September 2024 after a landslide caused by heavy rains.

Another landslide in a gold mine on Sulawesi island killed at least 23 people in July 2024.

Source: https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/landslide-at-gold-mine-in-indonesias-papua-kills-six-14-missin