8 Gold Miners Trapped In Banyumas Mining Wells Can't Be Evacuated

BANYUMAS - Head of the Cilacap Search and Rescue Office (KPP/Basarnas) Adah Sudarsa said the evacuation of 8 gold miners trapped in the mining well, Grumbul Tajur, Pancurendang Village, Banyumas Regency, Central Java, had not produced any results.

"As of today (28/7), at 17.00 WIB, evacuation efforts have not yielded results. Evacuation will resume on Saturday (29/7)," he said as quoted by ANTARA, Friday, July 28.

The search and rescue operation (SAR) on Friday (28/7) has been carried out as planned.

The joint SAR team divided the work sector as many as 5 workssite, namely WorldA-1 located in Sumur Bogor, WorldA-2 at Sumur Dondong, WorldA-3 suctioned by Sumur I, WorldA-4 suctioned by Sumur II, and WorldA-5 located at river dams.

"However, there are other excavation wells that allow it to affect leaks leading to the excavation of the Bogor Well, so that worksite increases to 6 points," he said.

In addition, monitoring from the Department of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) of Central Java Province regarding the measurement of the water level of the excavated land at the Bogor Well is at a depth of 11.72 meters.

"As for the obstacles found in the field, namely the water discharge is still high, the mining hole is narrow, the water is mixed with material, and the pipe size does not meet the hole capacity," said Adah.

Previously, Banyumas Regent Achmad Husein said his party had held meetings with various stakeholders including Basarnas on Thursday (27/7) related to evacuation efforts against 8 miners trapped in the illegal gold mine pit.

According to him, in the meeting it was agreed that the authorities and responsible for the implementation of the evacuation were Basarnas.

Local governments will support whatever Basarnas needs, such as generators and large-capacity water pumps.

"We fulfill it, because those who can work and have knowledge are Basarnas, so we just follow Basarnas," said the Regent.

Eight miners have reportedly been trapped in a gold mine pit since Tuesday (25/7), 23.00 WIB, because suddenly water came inundating the mining area.

The eight trapped miners consisted of Cecep Suriyana (29), Rama Abd Rohman (38), Ajat (29), Mad Kholis (32), Marmumin (32), Muhidin (44), Jumadi (33), and Mulyadi (40) and all of them came from Bogor Regency, West Java.