Last Five Bodies Recovered After Landslide at Mine in Indonesia’s Papua

Rescuers have recovered the bodies of five workers, including two foreigners, who had been missing for nearly a month after a landslide trapped seven employees at a mine in Indonesia’s Papua region, operator Freeport Indonesia confirmed on Monday.

The bodies of the other two missing workers had been recovered in September.

The landslide occurred on 8 September when material from an extraction point flowed across one of the five sections of the Grasberg Block Cave underground gold and copper mine in Tembagapura, Central Papua province.

The flow blocked access and limited evacuation routes, trapping the workers, the company said.

• Two workers were found dead on 20 September, nearly two weeks after the landslide.
• The search for the remaining five workers continued for nearly a month.

Freeport Indonesia released a statement on Monday:

“On Sunday… after working nonstop for 27 challenging days… [rescuers] found and evacuated five workers from the mud flow site at the Grasberg Block Cave. They were all found dead.”

Among the victims were a South African and a Chilean, the company confirmed.

Company President Director Tony Wenas explained the operation’s difficulty: “The rescue operation took a long time due to the difficult location and the huge volume of 800,000 tonnes of material from the mud flow.”

Regarding the victims’ final arrangements:

• One victim will be buried in Papua.
• The remaining victims will be flown to Jakarta and then returned to their respective hometowns.

Mine Operations and Background

• Freeport suspended operations at the mine last month to prioritise the rescue.
• The company plans to restart production early next year.

Grasberg Block Cave is one of three mines at the site operated by Freeport Indonesia. Together, they form one of the largest gold and copper complexes in the world and have frequently been a flashpoint in Papua’s long-running insurgency.