Jakarta, Indonesia Senitnel — A week has passed since a landslide struck PT Freeport Indonesia’s underground mining site, leaving seven workers trapped with their condition still unknown. Search and rescue efforts remain ongoing.
Freeport’s Vice President of Corporate Communications, Katri Krisnati, said the company continues to focus on rescuing the miners caught in the Grasberg Block Cave (GBC) incident on September 8.
“Our priority is to keep working on the rescue of the seven employees affected by the wet muck flow at the Grasberg Block Cave underground mine,” Krisnati said, as reported by Bloomberg.
The company has also confirmed on Wednesday (September 10) that mining operations have been suspended to focus entirely on evacuation efforts.
Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia confirmed the seven workers are still trapped, with no updates yet on their status. He said he has reported the situation to President Prabowo Subianto.
“I have informed the President, and as of now, the search is still underway inside the affected tunnel,” Bahlil said on Monday, as reported by Antara.
He added that his ministry deployed a rescue team several days ago and is awaiting further updates from the field.
In a separate statement, Director General of Minerals and Coal at the ministry, Tri Winarno said two of the trapped workers are foreign nationals with one workers from Chile and another from South Africa. While the other five are confirmed to be Indonesian citizens.
Read Also:
Seven Freeport Workers Still Missing as Rescue Teams Search Underground Mine Tunnels
Previously, landslide struck Freeport’s Grasberg mine in Tembagapura, Central Papua, at around 10 p.m. local time on September 8, when a large volume of wet muck flooded the underground operations.
Deputy Energy Minister Yuliot Tanjung said rescue teams have managed to dig through blocked tunnels, but the seven miners remain unaccounted for. Up to this day, search effort remain ongoing while the trapped workers conditions was still uncertain.
(Raidi/Agung)
