At least 10 people have been killed after they were swept up in a terrifying landslide at a quarry mine.
The tragedy unfolded in West Java, Indonesia, per the country’s national disaster management agency.
The landslide happened at around 10am on Friday near Cirebon, which is about 135 miles east of the capital Jakarta.
All the victims of the incident were workers from a quarry, as confirmed by the disaster agency. Along with this information, reports stated that six other individuals sustained injuries and are currently receiving medical attention at nearby hospitals, as per The New York Times.
The alarming footage captured the moment when an entire section of a mountain suddenly collapsed, causing a massive flow of dirt and rocks to cascade down towards the base of the steep slope.
Workers far enough away were seen getting into their vehicles and driving away with haste.
Indonesian news network Kompas TV captured images of of excavators digging around in the rubble looking for survivors.
The search and rescue operation had to be suspended at approximately 5 pm due to darkness setting in and the fear of triggering additional landslides, according to Mukhammad Yusron, the military district commander overseeing the area.
Yusron told the Antara news agency that searches will continue on Saturday.
Improper mining methods are to blame for the disaster, according to Bambang Tirto Mulyono, the head of the West Java department of energy and mineral resources.
Mulyono told Detik Jabar, a local news site, that workers were mining from the bottom of the hill up, instead of from the top down.
‘We have repeatedly warned the mining operator, even in strong terms,’ he said, adding that Cirebon police roped off the site since February because the mining methods did not meet safety standards.
Mulyono advised the Governor of West Java to temporarily close the area so an environmental audit can be done.
This kind of audit would determine if the mine was operating illegally, and if it was, it could be shut down permanently.
Mulyono also pointed out that this particular mining operation has polluted water sources in the area, which has become a problem for farmers trying to irrigate their crops.
West Java Governor Dedi Mulyadi was scheduled to review the location of the landslide and evaluate its safety.
Indonesia, an archipelago of 17,500 islands, is prone to landslides during its monsoon season, which typically occurs from October to April.
Just last month, 10 people were killed after a devastating mudslide buried vehicles on a hilly road in Java, the country’s main island.
Indonesia is home to more than 280 million people, making it the fourth most populous country in the world behind the United States, China and India.
The country used to be covered in lush rainforests that have been increasingly chopped down over the last 50 years to make room for palm oil plantations and other types of farmland.
Experts say this extreme level of deforestation has led to unstable soil conditions, only making Indonesia more susceptible to landslides.
Illegal gold mining operations have also triggered landslides.
In November, 24 people died in a landslide at an unauthorized gold mining area on Sulawesi island.
