Surviving miners look on as rescue teams evacuate dead and injured victims of a coal mine explosion in Sawahlunto on December 9, 2022. (Photo by SULTHAN AZZAM / AFP)
Padang, Indonesia — Ten workers were killed in Indonesia after an explosion in a coal mine caused a collapse, a rescue agency official said Friday.
The miners were at a coal mine in the West Sumatra province when the blast buried an estimated 14 people.
The mine “reportedly collapsed due to an explosion caused by methane”, local search and rescue agency spokesman Octavianto, who like many Indonesians uses only one name, said in a statement.
He said 10 bodies were recovered, while four people survived.
The mine was reported to be a licensed operation.
Mining accidents are common across the mineral-rich Southeast Asian archipelago nation, especially at unlicensed abandoned sites where people scrounge for leftover ore without using proper safety equipment.
In September this year, at least seven people died when a landslide hit a mine on Borneo Island.
And in April, 12 miners at an illegal gold mine in North Sumatra province were killed in a landslide.