The death toll in a landslide at an illegal mine has been revised down to 11, with miscounting linked to the remote location, a local disaster agency official said.
The landslide hit a remote site in West Sumatra province on Sumatra island Thursday evening after heavy rains in the area, with rescue workers struggling to locate the dead and injured.
Search efforts were being hindered by the remote location, with rescuers including police officers, soldiers and civilians having to walk for hours from the nearest village to reach the area.
“The number declined, from 15 people dead to 11,” Irwan Effendy, disaster agency official in West Sumatra’s Solok district, said yesterday.
“Due to the remote location of the landslide, which requires a four to six hour walk, and the lack of communication networks, there was a mismatched number of victims.”
Unlicensed mines are common across the mineral-rich archipelago, where abandoned sites attract locals who hunt for leftover gold ore without proper safety equipment. — AFP
