SYDNEY – Ten families have reported their relatives missing in a landslide at a major gold mine in the Solomon Islands, local police said on Tuesday.
Officials have not reported a death toll, as recovery and search operations continued on Tuesday.
Ten distressed families had reported to the Tetere Police Station that male family members were missing at the mine site, a Tetere police officer told AFP by telephone on Tuesday.
Residents who were not employed by the mining company were known to have been accessing the site to search for gold, and are believed to be among the missing.
A resident who lives near the remote mine had earlier told AFP that families were searching for relatives at the disaster scene, and authorities needed to wait for machinery to clear the ground of large boulders and a wide area of rubble.
“People are crying for their loved ones,” resident Milie Luvu said on Monday.
Government officials said they expected to release an official statement at a later time.
Gold Ridge said in a statement that the “incident was limited to a restricted, non-operational area of the mine”, and its mining operations were continuing.
Gold Ridge is owned by the Hong Kong stock exchange listed Wanguo International Mining, which says its main business is mining in China and the Solomon Islands.
The mine is a significant contributor to the Solomons’ economy and began an expansion last year. – AFP
