Desperate rescue attempt underway as dozens are buried by landslide at unlicensed Indonesia gold mine

The collapse of an unlicensed gold mine in Indonesia’s North Sulawesi province has buried dozens of people and killed at least one, a disaster official said.

Emergency personnel used their bare hands and farm tools in a desperate attempt to reach victims calling for help from beneath the rubble.

Local disaster official Abdul Muin Paputungan said one person was confirmed dead and 14 people with injuries ranging from light to serious had been rescued.

As many as 60 people were buried, he said.

“Unstable soil conditions make us extra careful lifting rocks because it can lead to new landslides,” Mr Paputungan told The Associated Press.

“We still hear voices crying for help from people beneath the rubble,” he said.

“Survivors estimated about 60 people are trapped in the rubble of the mining pit,” Mr Paputungan said.

• Twenty-one die in Chinese coal mine collapse

• Miners rescued from flooded Zimbabwe gold mine as hunt goes on for trapped

Makeshift wooden structures in the mine in Bolaang Mongondow district collapsed on Tuesday evening due to unstable soil and the large number of mining holes, burying people in the mine pit.

Police, search and rescue agency workers, military and Indonesian Red Cross personnel were all taking part in the rescue effort but the remote location was complicating the operation.

Mr Paputungan said the mine and a village connected to it are in a steep area that can only be reached by foot. Earth-moving equipment and ambulances cannot reach the location, he said.