Landslide at Freeport, four missing

Four employees of two contractors of giant gold mining firm PT Freeport Indonesia were missing after a landslide incident at the mining operation in Grasberg area of the Jayawijaya Mountain.

Kompas quoted company press release as saying that the four days of rainfall caused the landslide of the overburden of Grasberg mining site, which then caused a wave of water and materials to overtop the Wanagon basin spillway and enter Wanagon valley.

The paper said that the office of the Minister of Environment would immediately send a team to investigate the causes of the accident.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian Forum for Environment or popularly called Walhi vowed to take legal action against Freeport, and to demand the temporary closure of the mining operation until an investigation into the accident had been completed.

Walhi said that such a landslide accident has happened three times in the Freeport mining operation. (*)