Freeport Boss About The Search For Five Workers Trapped In Landslide: Please Pray For Everyone...

JAKARTA - PT Freeport Indonesia is still looking for five workers who were trapped by landslides at the Grasberg Block Cave (GBC) Mimika underground mine, Central Papua.

PT Freeport Indonesia President Director Tony Wenas said that currently rescue teams are still trying to reach five trapped workers.

"Please pray for everything so we can find it," said Tony at the Indonesia Green Mineral Investment Forum (IGMIF) 2025 event in Jakarta, Thursday, October 2.

Tony confirmed that currently his company is still stopping production because it is focused on searching for the five people who were trapped in the landslide. "We are stopping all production right now," he said.

Tony explained that the landslide that occurred in the GBC underground mine had a tonnage of 700,000 tons.

When the landslide occurred, almost all Freeport employees could be evacuated. However, there are still seven people trapped by landslides.

After searching, two of the seven trapped Freeport workers were found dead.

"We found two on September 20 dead," he said.

Menurut Tony, pencarian lima pekerja lainnya masih terhalang dengan medan lokasinya cukup sulit.

Pasalnya, kata dia, terdapat material basah cukup banyak di lokasi yang diyakini menjadi tempat terjebaknya lima pekerja Freeport.

"Kami sudah ketahui keberadaannya di sekitar mana, tapi belum bisa kami capai karena jumlah material basah itu luar biasa besar. Kami kadang-kadang maju 20 meter, kemudian dia turun lagi. Jadi, mundur dalam satu hari," terang Tony.

"Tapi, alhamdulillah sudah bergerak lebih maju lagi. Sekarang tinggal sekitar 80 meter lagi untuk mencapai lokasi yang kami duga mereka berada di situ, berdasarkan hasil pemantauan sebelum insiden terjadi," pungkasnya.

Sebelumnya, VP Corporate Communications PT Freeport Indonesia, Katri Krisnati mengatakan, saat ini perusahaan memutuskan untuk menghentikan sementara operasi pertambangan.

"Operasional dihentikan sementara untuk memprioritaskan pembersihan jalur akses dan evakuasi yang aman bagi tujuh pekerja kontraktor tersebut," ujar Katri saat dikonfirmasi VOI, Selasa, 9 September.

Katri menjelaskan, pada Senin, 8 September, sekitar pukul 22.00 WIT di Papua, Indonesia, terjadi aliran material basah dalam jumlah besar di tambang bawah tanah Grasberg Block Cave.

"Insiden ini menutup akses ke area tertentu di tambang, membatasi rute evakuasi untuk tujuh pekerja," tandas dia.

According to Tony, the search for five other workers is still blocked by the terrain, which is quite difficult.

The reason, he said, was that there was quite a lot of wet material in the location which was believed to be the place where five Freeport workers were trapped.

"We already know where it is located, but we haven't been able to achieve it because the amount of wet material is enormous. We sometimes go forward 20 meters, then he goes down again. So, back off in one day," explained Tony.

"But, thank God, it has moved even further. Now it is only about 80 meters left to reach the location where we suspect they were there, based on the results of monitoring before the incident occurred," he concluded.

Previously, PT Freeport Indonesia's VP of Corporate Communications, Katri Krisnati, said that currently the company decided to temporarily suspend mining operations.

"The operation is temporarily suspended to prioritize cleaning of access and safe evacuation routes for the seven contractor workers," Katri said when confirmed by VOI, Tuesday, September 9.

Katri explained, on Monday, September 8, at around 22.00 WIT in Papua, Indonesia, there was a large flow of wet material in the Grasberg Block Cave underground mine.

"This incident closed access to certain areas in the mine, limiting evacuation routes to seven workers," he said.