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JAKARTA - A LANDSLIDE has killed 12 illegal copper miners and buried at least nine others in Indonesia's eastern province of Papua, police said on Tuesday.
'The illegal miners were working in an area between two tall cliffs and one side collapsed,' local police chief Godhelp told reporters by telephone.
'We have found 12 bodies so far and there are at least nine more of them believed to be still buried by the soil and rocks.'
He said the landslide took place around 10 pm Singapore time (1300 GMT) on Monday in an area some 3,000 metres above sea level which is continuously shrouded by mist.
The accident took place within a concession mined by US-based giant Freeport-McMoRan Cooper and Gold Inc. but did not involve the company's operations.
'This is not a Freeport operation. They are illegal miners who have continued to disregard our demand that they leave the place,' Mr Godhelp said.
He said picks, shovels and heavy machinery were being used in the search for survivors.
Freeport Indonesia, a subsidiary of Freeport-McMoRan, operates a huge gold and copper mine in Papua. -- AFP
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