Allegedly Gas Poisoning, 3 Chinese Citizens Died In South Kalimantan's Kotabaru Underground Mine

Kapolres Kotabaru South Kalimantan, AKBP Gafur Aditia Siregar when the press was released at the Kotabaru Police some time ago (VIA ANTARA)

Kotabaru Police Investigators suspect that three foreign workers from China died from gas poisoning in the underground mine PT Resources Energi (SDE) in West Kelumpang District, Kotabaru, South Kalimantan. "The cause of death is still waiting for the results of the blood samples to be sent to the forensic laboratory," said Kotabaru Police Chief AKBP Gafur Adytia H Siregar in Kotabaru, Antara, Thursday, March 16. The three foreign workers who died were Xuecen Tiang (41), Lizie Day (45), and Shaziang Yao (51). Gafur said the victim's employees did their job as usual to enter the hole along with about 10 people who were divided into three groups. Then the group of four people returned to the mouth of the hole to retrieve the equipment that was still left behind. From the results of the investigation at the location, Gafur revealed, when workers were about to take equipment, the alarm inside the hole sounded a sign of gas. "At the time of the gas detection alarm, the victim's colleagues saw them going out immediately, but they didn't go outside," said Gafur. Because the victim did not go up, the rescue team evacuated three victims who were found in the tunnel of the mine site with a depth of about 1.3 kilometers underground. "After being found, they were then taken to the Magalau Hulu Village Firehouse, West Kelumpang and declared dead, then taken to the Husada Batulicin Hospital," said Gafur. Meanwhile, the Puslabfor team at the National Police Headquarters, AKBP Arif Andi Setiawan, explained that officers had taken samples of two bags for further investigation. Arif said the follow-up examination was to determine the type of gas that caused the victim to die and the results of the examination would be outside in the next two weeks. "We have also taken blood samples and swaps will be brought to Jakarta for in-depth examination," said Arif. Currently, the victim is at Bayangkara Hospital in Banjarmasin for the autopsy process while waiting for the victim's family.