Seven gold miners were killed and five others injured, after landslides hit a gold mine in Indonesia’s West Kalimantan province, rescuers said.

Eight people remained missing in the natural disaster, which occured at the Kinande village of Bengkayang district, said Thomas Katihada, senior official of the disaster management and mitigation agency, in the district.

Rescuers at the scene retrieved seven bodies, while five other miners survived the accident, but sustained injuries, Katihada said.

The official said, some 20 miners were working at the gold mine. “The miners were digging in a deep hole when the landslides occurred,” he added.

One excavator was deployed at the scene, to help remove the soil, Eryk Subaryanto, head of the operational unit of the provincial search and rescue office, said.

The landslides happened on Thursday night, but the information of the accident was received by rescuers of the office on Friday night, said Subaryanto.

“We got the information last (Friday) night, and immediately deployed our personnel at the scene,” he said, adding that, the location of the mine was in a remote area and communication facilities there were poor.

Heavy downpours had been continuing for days in the region, including in the mining area, he said.

Military and police personnel, personnel of the local disaster management and mitigation agency, and villagers were also involved in the search and rescue mission, he added.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK