West News Wire: Four other miners were rescued after a coal mine explosion in Indonesia’s West Sumatra province on Friday claimed the lives of ten miners, according to officials.
“The final fatality was discovered following a search in an 800-foot-long (240-meter) tunnel. The majority of the casualties had burns. All of the survivors had breathing difficulties and were taken away for more care, according to Octavianto, a spokesman for the regional search and rescue organization who, like many Indonesians, goes by just one name.
The methane-related explosion took place in the privately owned mine in the Sawahlunto district.
In order to make the mine safe for entry, rescuers employed blowers and exhaust fans to remove the mine’s gases.
“The team struggled to find victims considering the location was quite difficult,” Octavianto said.
Videos distributed by the National Search and Rescue Agency showed rescuers carrying victims out on stretchers and giving them oxygen from tanks. Others showed yellow body bags being carried from the pit.
Landslides, flooding and tunnel collapses are some of the other hazards miners face.
In April, an overloaded truck carrying 29 people hit a hillside and overturned near an illegal gold mine in West Papua province, killing 18 people and injuring others.
In February 2019, a makeshift wooden structure in an illegal gold mine in North Sulawesi province collapsed due to shifting soil and the large number of mining pits. More than 40 people were buried and died.
