Eight people trapped in an illegal gold mine on the Indonesian island of Java are feared dead, as search efforts entered a fifth day with little progress. Unlicensed mines, many with disregard for basic safety measures, are common across the mineral-rich Southeast Asian archipelago and accidents are frequent.
The workers were digging inside a hole with a depth of 60 meters in Pancurendang village in Central Java on 25 July evening when water suddenly flooded the illegal mine. Rescuers had deployed water pumps around the clock and worked to dam a nearby river in a frantic bid to get the water out of the mining shaft but it remained flooded on Sunday.
Authorities had planned to deploy divers to find the miners but local rescue official Priyo Prayudha Utama told AFP "it was not possible" because the mine shaft was too narrow. Most of the trapped miners had moved from West Java to mine in the region.
Aruna Gaitonde, Editor in Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough & Polished
