Indonesia: 4 people killed in mine slides

Four miners were killed after mine slides struck an illegal gold mine in the South Kalimantan province, according to provincial disaster agency officials.

"The collapses hit the underground area twice, when the first one happened, it buried one miner, then four others tried to rescue him, but, suddenly, another mine slide struck and buried three out of the four," Syafarudin Syukur, the head of the emergency unit at the provincial disaster agency told Xinhua.

The illegal mine is situated at Gunung Puncak in Kotabaru district. All the bodies were retrieved, the official added.

Scores of miners excavate gold at traditional gold mines in the region, the official said. Even though the Indonesian authorities had barred the operation of illegal gold mines, small-scale ones can reportedly be seen throughout the region.

In 2017, a gold mine collapse had claimed the lives of around 11 miners in Indonesia's Jambi. The collapse was triggered due to heavy rains. The bodies of the deceased were found buried 50 metres below the collapsed mine.