Indonesian rescuers search for trapped miners in illegal gold mine

Indonesian rescuers raced against the clock Wednesday to save eight people trapped in an illegal gold mine on Java, the country's biggest island, officials said.

Unlicensed mines -- many with complete disregard for even the most basic of safety measures -- are common across the mineral-rich Southeast Asian archipelago and accidents are frequent. The miners were digging inside a 60-metre-deep hole in Pancurendang village in Central Java on Tuesday evening when water suddenly flooded the illegal mine, police said.

With oxygen fast running out and the potential for severe flooding of the mine shaft, the rescue effort was being aided by the military and had turned to getting the water out. Divers would be sent to look for the miners if attempts to draw the water out of the mine failed.

Most of the trapped workers had moved from West Java to mine in the region. In 2021, six people were killed on Sulawesi Island in an illegal gold mine collapse.