A landslide has struck a remote Indonesian village, where residents were illegally mining for gold. Several individuals remain unaccounted for.More than 100 villagers were digging for grains of gold on Sunday in the remote Bone Bolango district in Gorontalo province when tons of mud plunged down the surrounding hills and buried their makeshift camps, said Heriyanto, head of the Search and Rescue Office.
He said 44 people managed to escape from landslide, some of them pulled out alive by rescuers, including six injured, and recovered 12 bodies, including three women and a 4-year-old boy. Some 48 others are missing, he said.
“Relief efforts for the dead and missing were hampered by heavy rain and blocked roads covered with thick mud and debris,” said rescue official Afifuddin Ilahude.
National Disaster Management Agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari said torrential rains that have pounded the area since Saturday also broke an embankment, causing floods of up to 3 meters (10 feet) in five villages in Bone Bolango. Nearly 300 houses were affected and more than 1,000 people have fled for safety.
