Jakarta:

Indonesian rescuers hunted for survivors Thursday after an illegal gold mine collapsed killing at least three people, with more believed to be buried under the rubble, officials said.

A landslide Wednesday evening buried the remote site on Sulawesi island’s Parigi Moutong district, where at least three female workers died while some 15 survivors were pulled from the debris.

At least five more people are listed among the missing but there could be more workers buried, authorities said.

“We are trying get the victims out,” said local search and rescue agency chief Andrias Hendrik Johannes.

“But we don’t have the complete data yet on the total number of miners buried by the landslide or the number of people missing.”

Unlicensed mines are common across the mineral-rich Southeast Asian archipelago and the scene of frequent accidents.

Last year, 11 miners died in Sumatra after a landslide sparked by heavy rains, with another nine people also killed in a landslide at an abandoned gold mine on the island.

In 2019, at least 16 people were buried alive when a mine collapsed in North Sulawesi.

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