A collapse at an unlicensed gold mine in Indonesia has buried dozens of people, and rescuers are desperately digging with their bare hands and farm tools as they tried to unearth 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," Paputungan told The Associated Press. "We still hear voices crying for help from people beneath the rubble," he said.
Rescuers said they could hear the voices of those trapped in makeshift mining shafts in the Bolaang Mongondow area of North Sulawesi province.
Rescuers carry a survivor. Source: BNPB
Many victims are thought to still be alive.
"When dozens of people were mining for gold at the location, suddenly beams and supporting boards they used broke due to unstable land and numerous mining shafts," disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.
Makeshift wooden structures in the mine in North Sulawesi province's 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 locale was complicating the operation.
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 can't reach the location, he said.
The central Indonesian government has banned such small-scale gold mining, although regional authorities often turn a blind eye to the practice in remote areas. With little regulation, the mines are prone to accidents.
Search-and-rescue teams and military officers were working together but using simple tools such as spades and rope because conditions remained dangerous, with the land still prone to shifting and sliding.
