Up to 100 people still feared trapped in illegal Indonesia gold mine that collapsed
- Rescuers at the unlicensed mine have been hampered by steep terrain, unstable soil and dangerously narrow mining shafts since a landslide caused the accident last Tuesday
- Search-and-rescue efforts will continue for another week, said authorities
Up to 100 people could still be trapped and feared dead inside a collapsed illegal gold mine despite a painstaking rescue effort that has so far rescued 19 people alive, Indonesia authorities said on Monday.
Search teams at the unlicensed mine on Sulawesi island have been hampered by steep terrain, unstable soil and dangerously narrow mining shafts since a landslide caused the accident last Tuesday.
While authorities said the search-and-rescue effort would continue for another week, they made no mention of continuing efforts to get food and water to any possible survivors.
National disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said the number of miners inside the shafts at the time of the accident was still not known as survivors had given varying tallies.
“Some say 30 people, 50, 60 people – even 100 people, because at the time there were many in the main pit (and) ... an unknown number in the smaller ones,” he said in a statement.