Landslide at Kotabaru's gold mine, six die

Kotabaru, S Kalimantan (ANTARA) - A landslide disaster occurred at Gunung Putri, the peak of Meratus mountain range at the Sungai Durian Sub-district in Kotabaru, South Kalimantan, Monday (June 1, 2020) killed six people and several others injured.


Based on data collected, the victims died were Pudin (25), resident of Central Hulu Sungai, Purwadi (30), resident of Tanah Laut, Didik Wiyono (36), resident of Sungai Durian, Prayitno (30) resident of Kediri, East Java, then Iqbal (29) and Nardi who were still in search of the scene.

Acting Head of Kotabaru Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) H Rusian Ahmadi Jaya said, the location of landslide is a gold mine area traditionally managed by migrants from various regions.

"Location of the incident in the Meratus mountains is far from residential areas, the closest village is Bulu Kuning, Sungai Durian, which is about 5 hours trip from the village," H Jaya said.

The far location and the severity of terrain, he added, made the combined team of rescue have difficulty finding and evacuating victims.

However, the agency together with the combined team, including local sub-district officials, subdistrict military command (Koramil), police, Basarnas and other citizens continued to search for victims who had not been found.

While the victims found, both dead and injured, had been evacuated to the Sungai Durian puskesmas (community health center).

Before the landslide struck the traditional gold miners in Sungai Durian, Kotabaru, heavy rain occurred a day before, Sunday (May 31, 2020).
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