Indonesian authorities will continue to search on Sunday eight people trapped in a rock collapse in a career by West Java, where the number of deaths has reached 17 with six injured, said Basarnas research and rescue agency.
The toll, as reported by the families of the victims, is provisional, the agency said in a statement late Saturday.
The Friday collapse site in Cirebon is dangerous and “does not meet safety standards for workers”, the governor of Western Java Dedi Mlydadi published on Instagram.
The Ministry of Energy Resources and Minerals said in a statement that it would investigate the cause of collapse and proceed to an evaluation to identify any other potential landslide.
The Regency of Cirebon is subject to the movement of the soil, in particular when the precipitation is greater than normal, while the zone of collapse has a slope of cliff, said the head of the geological agency of the ministry, Muhammad Wafid, in the press release.
Wafid said the subcute method used in the open mining area and the steep slope may also have played a role in collapse.
“While making evacuation and research efforts, (rescuers) must pay attention to weather conditions and steep slopes, and not carry out activities during and after heavy rains, because this area always has the potential of other landslides that could strike or bury the officers,” said Wafid.
