Gold Mining Landslide Victims In Gorontalo Increase, 5 People Die And 2 Seriously Injured

The evacuation process of one of the bodies of landslide victims in Tulabolo Village, East Suwawa District, Bone Bolango Regency, Gorontalo Province. (ANTARA)

GORONTALO - The victim who was found dead in a landslide incident in the mining area of the people of East Tulabolo Village, East Suwawa District, Bone Bolango Regency, Gorontalo Province, continues to grow.

Head of the Gorontalo Search and Rescue Office (SAR) Heriyanto said that of the 10 victims who had been collected, five of them were declared dead.

"Temporary data confirmed that there were 10 victims, five of whom had died, two were injured, and three more people will still be searched," said Heriyanto, quoted by ANTARA, Monday, July 8.

According to him, the search for other victims is still resting on Sunday night, considering that the distance from residential areas to the people's mining sites is quite far.

Not to mention the condition of the road to the gold mining area is very difficult to pass, he said, and can only be reached on foot because several bridges have broken.

He said the weather in most of the area was also often rained with light intensity, plus conditions at night that limited visibility, so his party and local authorities had held a coordination meeting which decided to temporarily suspend the search for victims and resumed on Monday morning starting at 06.00 WITA.

"For now, we have only found seven people, and we will still search three more. It is possible that the number of victims will still increase," he said.

Gorontalo Police Chief Inspector General PolPudji Prasetijanto Hadi, who participated in monitoring the search for victims, said he had deployed personnel from various units and functions to assist the search process to evacuate the victims.

He emphasized that Polri personnel will work together with the TNI, Basarnas, BPBD, PMI, to RAPI (Indonesian Amateur Radio), to facilitate the search and evacuation process.

"Joint personnel will be divided into three teams. Each team is 50 people. They will work on an relay, considering the mining location is quite far away and the terrain is difficult to pass," he said.

He hopes that the physical condition of the joint personnel involved in carrying out this humanitarian mission can be maintained and remain prime, so that the search and evacuation process runs smoothly and the victims can be found immediately.