Jakarta, Indonesia Sentinel — Two of seven workers trapped in a landslide at PT Freeport Indonesia’s Grasberg Block Cave underground mine in Central Papua have been found dead. Meanwhile, five others remain missing.
The bodies were recovered around 8:45 a.m. local time, according to Freeport’s Vice President of Corporate Communications Katri Krisnati.
“The underground rescue team has found and evacuated two bodies believed to be our colleagues who were trapped in the wet material slide at Grasberg Block Cave,” she said in a statement.
The Police confirmed that the victims were Indonesian who work as an electrician from PT Cita Contract.
The company expressed condolences to the victims’ families. Katri added that rescue operations still continue to look for the remaining missing workers. “The team is continuing search and rescue efforts with all available resources,” Katri added.
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Previously, The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) reported that the seven workers had been trapped since a collapse on September 8. Deputy Minister Yuliot Tanjung said evacuation teams had dug two tunnels toward the miners’ last known location.
“The tunnels reached the initial location where the workers were believed to be, but they were not there,” Yuliot said on September 12. He noted that the search has been hampered by the mine’s complex and winding network of underground passages.
Despite the challenges, evacuation teams from both the company and the ministry said they will continue efforts to locate and rescue the remaining five miners.
(Raidi/Agung)
