Published: 13:07, May 19, 2025 | Updated: 17:21, May 19, 2025
Landslide at gold mine in Indonesia's Papua kills six;14 missing
By Xinhua
Rescue teams, including Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) and the Indonesian National Defence Forces (TNI), recover motorcycles from the mud following a landslide triggered by heavy rains in Kasimpar village, Central Java, on Jan 22, 2025. (PHOTO / AFP)

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.

READ MORE: Landslides in Indonesia's Sumatra kill at least 27, rescuers search for missing

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.

READ MORE: Indonesia resumes search for 7 missing after landslide and floods kill 15

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.