Heavy rains halt search for 30 missing people in Indonesia
More than 1,000 personnel, including army troops, have now been deployed in the search.
PALU: Incessant rains Wednesday halted the search for 30 people believed trapped under a landslide that engulfed an unauthorized gold mine on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island over the weekend, killing at least 23 people.
More than 100 villagers were digging for grains of gold on Sunday in the remote and hilly village of Bone Bolango in Gorontalo province when tons of mud plunged down the surrounding hills and buried their makeshift camps.
The search was suspended Wednesday afternoon due to heavy rains, said Heriyanto, head of the provincial Search and Rescue Office. Rescuers have not yet been able to locate the missing people, he said.
The National Search and Rescue Agency said Wednesday that 92 villagers managed to escape from the landslide. Several of them were pulled out by rescuers, including 18 with injuries. It said 23 bodies were recovered, including that of a 4-year-old boy, while 30 people were missing.
More than 1,000 personnel, including army troops, have now been deployed in the search, said Edy Prakoso, the agency’s operation director.
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