President Yudhoyono calls on Freeport to step up rescue effort
Saturday, May 18 2013 - 04:14 AM WIB
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has called on PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) to intensify rescue effort at its Big Gossan underground after an underground tunnel collapsed on Tuesday.
"I have asked PT Freeport and apparatus to intensify rescue efforts," he said on his official Twittwer account.
With the accident, Yudhoyono asked every firm in the country to boost safety of their employees.
"With the accident in PT Freeport, I call on all firms in Indonesia to step up safety of their workers," he said.
Yudhoyono said that every worker has the right to be protected his/her working environment. The president also asked to carry out an investigation over the accident.
Freeport in its press statement on Friday said that the its emergency response team has successfully cleared two passages to provide access for heavy machinery to help expedite the rescue and recovery work.
The emergency response team, comprised of 60 of PTFI?s experts in underground activities, is proceeding to complete the important rescue and recovery tasks in a safe manner.
The team is working diligently to recover the remaining 23 individuals missing in the rubbles. "There is no new development to the status of the trapped workers since our last update yesterday," the company said on its press statement on Friday.
It is said that workers believed caved within the rubbles on May 15, were about 38, in the confusion surrounding the immediate aftermath of the collapse rescuers thought that there were 39 workers trapped under the debris but discovered later that one of them had escaped unharmed, rescued 10 people, found deceased 5 people, and still unaccounted 23 people.
About the status of the affected workers the company said many of the families of the 23 workers trapped in the rubbles are being housed in Tembagapura.
PTFI President Director Rozik B. Soetjipto visited the families and provided a status report on the work of the emergency response team. The company report that the 10 survivors of the incident are in stable condition.
?We continue with our thoughts and prayers for our colleagues still trapped in the rubbles and the injured,? Rozik said.
Editing by Adianto P. Simamora