This file photo shows members of local parliament inspect a tunnel at the Grasberg mining area of Freeport-McMoRan’s mining company located in Papua in the remote eastern region of Indonesia.


AFP/Timika


Two workers were killed and 31 others were trapped underground after a tunnel caved in yesterday at a gold and copper mine in remote eastern Indonesia, its US operator said.
The accident happened at Freeport-McMoRan’s huge Grasberg mine, and was the latest in a string of problems at the operation including a major 2011 strike that crippled production.
“Rescuers at the scene have reported that they have rescued four workers and found two bodies,” Freeport Indonesia, the local subsidiary of the mining giant, said in a statement.
“We extend our heartfelt condolences to the families of the deceased,” said Freeport Indonesia president Rozik B Soetjipto.
Thirty-seven workers were initially believed to have been trapped in the underground training facility when part of a tunnel collapsed, the company said.
A total of 40 Freeport employees and contract workers were in a classroom at the facility when the accident happened at 7:30 am, but three managed to escape immediately.
Local police chief Jermias Rontini said those evacuated had been taken to hospital but he did not know their conditions.
The tunnel is 500 metres (1,600 feet) away from one of the mining areas, high in the mountains of rugged, resource-rich Papua province.
Freeport said rescue operations were “difficult and will take some time to complete” but added “it would spare no effort” to save the trapped workers. The company said it did not expect production to be affected.
The company has not identified the nationalities of those involved in the accident, although the vast majority of the more than 24,000 workers at the mine are Indonesian. Neither police nor Freeport gave a cause for the accident.
The 2011 strike lasted three months and crippled production at Grasberg, one of the world’s largest gold and copper miners. The strike only ended once the firm agreed to a huge pay rise.
The industrial action sparked a wave of deadly clashes between police and gunmen around the mine, with at least 11 people, all Indonesians, killed.
Earlier this month, some 1,100 workers employed by Freeport contractors staged a three-day strike over pay but it caused only minimal disruption to
production.