15 die in Indonesia mine collapse after rain causes landslide, 25 missing

A landslide at a gold mine in western Indonesia has killed at least 15 people and left 25 missing, the local disaster agency said on Friday.

The landslide hit a remote site in West Sumatra province on Sumatra island on Thursday evening after heavy rain in the area, said provincial disaster mitigation agency spokesperson Ilham Wahab.

“The information we can provide was that a landslide occurred at a gold mine last night, causing several people to be buried. Efforts to search for the victims are ongoing,” he said.

Ilham added that three people were injured and 25 were still missing.

Irwan Efendi, the head of the provincial disaster agency, said rescuers must trek eight hours to get to the site, which is inaccessible by road. He added: “The victims are the residents who manually mine for gold.”