‘Race against time’ to rescue three dozen survivors after Indonesia mine collapse kills seven

Around three dozen workers are still trapped inside a collapsed gold mine, with rescuers in a "race against time" being forced to pass water and food to survivors as oxygen levels inside risk running low.

Abdul Muin Paputungan, a disaster official in North Sulawesi’s Bolaang Mongondow district, said 25 people have been rescued from the unlicensed mine however at least seven have died at the remote inaccessible location.

Mr Paputungan said that minutes before he was interviewed, a trapped miner’s leg had been amputated to free him, but the man died from blood loss while being carried out of the area.

“We were forced to amputate his leg to get him out because besides his lower leg being badly injured, the rock that squeezed it was impossible to shift or lift because we feared it could cause landslides and endanger rescuers and other victims,” Mr Paputungan said.

Rescue workers used makeshift stretchers to haul victims through steep jungle terrain to safety.

“We hope those still trapped can survive with the food and drinking water that we delivered to them,” Mr Paputungan said. “We have to race against time because their conditions are getting weaker and the oxygen inside we hope is still enough to let them survive.”

Wooden structures in the mine collapsed on Tuesday evening due to shifting soil and the large number of mining holes. Informal mining operations are commonplace in Indonesia, providing a tenuous livelihood to thousands who labour in conditions with a high risk of serious injury or death.

The national disaster agency said at least 140 people from different agencies are involved in the rescue effort. It said there was an urgent need for body bags.

Photos showed a trapped miner’s arms and head jutting through a gap in rocks and rescuers toiling through the night in arduous conditions.

A woman who took her missing husband’s ID to an emergency command post cried out in anguish when an officer showed her a photo of a body they believed was her husband, video showed.

“God forgive me,” she screamed.

Rescuers were using their bare hands and basic tools to search for the missing. They fashioned stretchers from tree branches, twine and other material.

Small and often unauthorised mining is rising in many parts of Asia and Africa. A study by the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development found the number of people engaged in such mining had risen to more than 40 million, up from 30 million in 2014 and 6 million in 1993.

Landslides, flooding and collapses of tunnels are just some of the hazards. Much of the processing of gold ore involves use of highly toxic mercury and cyanide by workers using little or no protection.