JAKARTA: Operasi mencari dan menyelamat bagi mengesan 14 mangsa yang hilang dalam kejadian tanah runtuh di Papua, Indonesia terpaksa dihentikan berikutan hujan lebat hari ini yang turut mengorbankan enam pekerja lombong emas dalam kejadian itu.

Jurucakap Agensi Pengurusan Bencana Indonesia, Abdul Muhari, berkata hujan lebat pada Jumaat lalu mencetuskan kejadian tanah runtuh di sebuah lombong kecil yang diusahakan penduduk di kawasan Pergunungan Arfak, wilayah Papua Barat, Indonesia.

Pihak berkuasa dijangka akan menyambung semula operasi mencari mangsa pada esok, selepas bencana itu menghapuskan tempat perlindungan sementara yang digunakan oleh pelombong berkenaan.

Ketua Pasukan Penyelamat, Yefri Sabaruddin, berkata seramai 40 anggota keselamatan termasuk polis dan tentera terbabit dalam operasi berkenaan yang turut berdepan cuaca buruk, laluan rosak dan keadaan pergunungan yang mencabar.

"Perjalanan ke lokasi kejadian mengambil masa 12 jam dari pekan terdekat. "Difahamkan, angka korban setakat ini mencatatkan satu kematian dan 19 orang masih hilang," katanya.

Aktiviti perlombongan haram berskala kecil sering menyebabkan kemalangan di Indonesia susulan banyak sumber mineral terletak di kawasan pedalaman yang sukar untuk dikawal pihak berkuasa.

Sekurang-kurangnya 15 orang terkorban dalam kejadian tanah runtuh di lombong emas haram di wilayah Sumatera Barat pada September tahun lalu.

Satu lagi kejadian tanah runtuh di lombong emas di Pulau Sulawesi mengorbankan sekurang-kurangnya 23 orang pada Julai tahun lalu.

JAKARTA: Torrential rains forced a halt on Monday to Indonesia's search for 14 missing in its easternmost region of Papua after a landslide killed six workers at a gold mine and injured four, officials said.

The rains had triggered Friday's landslide, which hit a small mine run by residents of the Arfak mountains of West Papua province, said Abdul Muhari, the spokesperson of Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency.

Authorities will resume on Tuesday their search for those missing after the disaster, which engulfed temporary shelters used by miners.

The search effort was hampered by "damaged roads and mountainous tracks as well as bad weather", Yefri Sabaruddin, the head of a team of 40 rescuers, including police and military officials, who retrieved five bodies, told Reuters.

Travelling to the site required 12 hours from the nearest town, he said. Monday's tally was updated from an earlier figure of one dead and 19 missing.

Small-scale and illegal mining has often led to accidents in Indonesia, where mineral resources are located in remote areas in conditions difficult for authorities to regulate. The number of casualties could rise.

At least 15 people died in the collapse of an illegal gold mine in West Sumatra province last September after a landslide caused by heavy rains.

Another landslide in a gold mine on Sulawesi island killed at least 23 people in July last year.

HANOI, May 19 — A landslide following flash floods in a mountainous area of northern Vietnam has killed four people, the government said today, as forecasters warned of further downpours.

The landslide occurred early yesterday in Ba Be district of Bac Kan province following torrential rain on Saturday.

“A very big (noise, like an) explosion was heard from the top of the mountain. Then soil, rock and water poured down from the mountain,” a statement on the government’s website quoted local official Tieu Xuan Tai as saying.

Tai said local residents had been aware of a two-metre-wide crack on the top of the mountain that appeared several years ago.

Provincial authorities have issued warnings to the public, and called for immediate safety checks for communities along streams, rivers and other areas vulnerable to landslides.

Residents must be immediately evacuated if they are at risk, authorities said.

Forecasters said rain in the area had been higher than normal so far this month and further heavy downpours were expected in northern and central areas.

Vietnam is prone to tropical storms, which often cause deadly flash floods and landslides, but they usually hit the country between June and November.

Experts say human-driven climate change is causing more intense weather patterns that can make destructive floods more likely.

Last year, 514 people died in Vietnam due to natural disasters, three times more than in 2023, the agriculture ministry said.

In September, northern Vietnam was devastated by Typhoon Yagi, which claimed 345 lives and caused an estimated economic loss of $3.3 billion. — AFP

JAKARTA (Bernama): One person was killed while 19 others were reported missing after severe flooding swept through a remote gold mining area in Indonesia’s West Papua province, officials said on Monday.

Four others were reportedly injured after floodwaters swept through a temporary miners’ settlement in Jim village, located in the Catubouw district of Arfak Mountains regency, on Friday evening.

"Floodwaters from the upstream area swept through a temporary settlement used by traditional gold miners at around 9pm, destroying tents and washing away equipment,” he said in a statement on Monday.

A joint search and rescue team was deployed to the affected area, but efforts were hindered by poor communication networks and harsh terrain, he said.

"The search for the 19 missing victims is being carried out intensively by the joint team on the ground,” Abdul Muhari added.

Flash floods and landslides are frequent in eastern Indonesia during the rainy season, particularly in mountainous regions such as West Papua. - Bernama