Landslide kills at least 15 people and leaves dozens buried at illegal gold mine

At least 15 people have been killed, with dozens still buried under thick mud after a landslide hit an unauthorised gold mining operation on the island of Sumatra, officials said.

Villagers were digging for gold in the remote Solok district on Sumatra – one of Indonesia’s western islands – when disaster struck.

Mud plunged down the surrounding hills and buried them, Irwan Effendoi, head of the local disaster mitigation agency office, said.

He said at least 25 people were still buried.

Three people were pulled out alive with injuries by rescuers.

Several major landslides have already hit Indonesia this year, killing dozens, including two such incidents in Sumatra.

At least 43 people were killed when flash flooding led to mudslides and a deluge of cold lava through mountainside villages on the island in May.

Two months earlier, heavy rains triggered flash floods and a landslide in West Sumatra, killing at least 26 people and leaving 11 others missing.

Meanwhile, in April, at least 14 people died and three were reported missing after landslides on the central island of Sulawesi.

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