Rescuers on Wednesday struggled to reach 25 people trapped in a collapsed mine tunnel in remote eastern Indonesia, as hundreds of angry workers protested to demand better safety.
Four dead bodies have so far been recovered and 10 people rescued following Tuesday's accident at US firm Freeport-McMoRan's Grasberg, one of the world's biggest gold and copper mines in rugged Papua province.
Freeport Indonesia, the local subsidiary of the US firm, suspended all operations at Grasberg as anger grew among workers at the mine, which in recent years has suffered a major strike and a spate of deadly shootings.
Rescuers are finding it difficult to reach the Indonesian workers who were trapped by the collapse during a safety training course, as the site -- which is not part of the mining area -- remains unstable.
The 50-strong team, which includes Freeport and police personnel, were using heavy machinery including bulldozers, as well as saws, wheelbarrows and jacks to clear debris.
"They have been working non-stop night and day to get to the workers, but the process is tedious and time-consuming," said local police spokesman I Gde Sumerta Jaya.
"Each time they dig, there are small landslides, so they have to put wooden planks on the tunnel walls and roof to prevent rocks from falling."
Oxygen was being piped into the tunnel, which is cut into a mountainside, but it was impossible to know whether those inside were dead or alive, he added.
As the rescue efforts dragged on anger grew among workers, around 1,000 of whom staged a protest near the mine.
They blocked a road near their dorms with trucks, heavy machinery and pieces of wood from late afternoon, only allowing ambulances and other vehicles involved in the rescue effort to pass.
"This is for our colleagues who haven't yet been evacuated," miner Ronald Waromi, who coordinated the demonstration, told AFP. "We expect the company to pay more attention to safety and the welfare of its employees."
Mining accidents are common in Indonesia, but they normally happen in illegal and unregulated mines, not at sites run by large companies.
Neither Freeport nor police have said what might have caused the accident.
The company said that production was first partially suspended at Grasberg to help with evacuation and rescue efforts, but they later decided to halt operations entirely.
"We temporarily suspended operations," said Freeport Indonesia president Rozik B. Soetjipto, adding he was heading to the mine to decide himself whether production should be resumed.
The tunnel collapse is just the latest problem to hit the mine. In 2011, a three-month strike by thousands of workers crippled production and only ended when the firm agreed to a major pay rise.
The industrial action sparked a wave of deadly clashes between police and gunmen around the mine, with at least 11 people, all Indonesians, killed.
Earlier this month, some 1,100 workers employed by Freeport contractors staged a three-day strike over pay but it caused only minimal disruption to production.
Thursday 16 May 2013
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/rescuers-struggle-to-reach-trapped-indon/676200.htmlpapua
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