Local news outlet Kompas TV shared harrowing footage of the aftermath, which showed heavy machinery searching for survivors among the rubble of a steep hill. Rescue operations were suspended around 5 p.m. Friday evening due to deteriorating light conditions and the potential for additional landslides, as noted by Mukhammad Yusron, commander of the local military district. Search efforts are set to resume on Saturday.
Bambang Tirto Mulyono, head of West Java's energy and mineral resources department, highlighted that the landslide was a consequence of unsafe mining practices, specifically mining from the base of the hill upwards instead of the safer top-down method. He emphasized that the mining operator had been warned multiple times about these perilous practices, citing that the police had cordoned off the site since February over safety violations.
Indonesia frequently experiences landslides during the rainy season, lasting from October to April. Just last month, a different landslide resulted in 10 deaths on Java, and another January incident claimed 25 lives. The country, home to over 280 million people across 17,500 islands, has seen significant deforestation over the past 50 years, which, alongside illegal gold mining, has led to increasingly unstable soil conditions. In a tragic parallel, 24 individuals died in November due to a landslide at an unauthorized mining site on Sulawesi Island.
With environmental safety concerns mounting, the tragic loss of life raises alarms about the state of mining regulations and practices in Indonesia.
Bambang Tirto Mulyono, head of West Java's energy and mineral resources department, highlighted that the landslide was a consequence of unsafe mining practices, specifically mining from the base of the hill upwards instead of the safer top-down method. He emphasized that the mining operator had been warned multiple times about these perilous practices, citing that the police had cordoned off the site since February over safety violations.
Indonesia frequently experiences landslides during the rainy season, lasting from October to April. Just last month, a different landslide resulted in 10 deaths on Java, and another January incident claimed 25 lives. The country, home to over 280 million people across 17,500 islands, has seen significant deforestation over the past 50 years, which, alongside illegal gold mining, has led to increasingly unstable soil conditions. In a tragic parallel, 24 individuals died in November due to a landslide at an unauthorized mining site on Sulawesi Island.
With environmental safety concerns mounting, the tragic loss of life raises alarms about the state of mining regulations and practices in Indonesia.
