2 Residents From Banten Trapped At A Depth Of 28 Meters In Belitung Tin Ore Mine, SAR Team Difficult To Evacuate

Underground tin ore mine site at PT Menara Citra Mulia (MCM) IUP location, Kelapa Kampit, East Belitung (Photo: ANTARA)

BELITUNG - The joint SAR team encountered problems when evacuating two underground tin miners Naryo (34) and Andri (22) due to the harsh conditions of the mine.

"The terrain conditions are quite heavy, so we estimate that the two victims are at a depth of 28 meters below ground level," said the Commander of the Belitung Basarnas SAR Post, Rahmatullah Hasyim in Kelapa Kampit, East Belitung, as reported by Antara, Monday, June 28.

The two victims are migrants from Pandeglang, Banten, who were trapped at a depth of 28 meters when installing a water suction device.

Another obstacle experienced by the team in the field for evacuation was the condition of the mine passageway which was quite narrow so that personnel could not carry oxygen cylinders down.

"The condition of the mine pit is not vertically downwards, there are levels in the shape of the letter 'S', so the two miners are at the location of the last depth level," he said.

Rahmat added that the diameter of the underground mining pit was only about 60 x 60 cm, and some of the underground walls had started to slide.

"We have lowered one personnel down to a depth of 13 to 15 meters to map the location of the terrain and to study that the oxygen reserves are very thin and visibility is very low in dark conditions," he said

According to him, while the evacuation process by means of diving is also quite difficult for officers.

"Diving conditions are very minimal and risky because the risk is very large. There is a 70 percent chance of failure and 30 percent of success," he said.

The search operation for the two miners will be open for the next seven days.

"Our continued efforts will also coordinate with the company to find the best solution and solution without endangering rescuers," he said.