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, The New York Times reported.
All the casualties were quarry workers, according to the disaster agency, which also reported six other people being injured. All of them are being treated at local hospitals.
Footage of the incident showed the entire side of a mountain collapsing at once, sending a torrent of dirt and rock flooding toward the base of the steep incline.
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 was called off at around 5pm because it got too dark and authorities were afraid of triggering more landslides, according to Mukhammad Yusron, the commander of the region’s military district.
At least 10 people have been killed after they were swept up in a terrifying landslide at a quarry mine
The landslide happened within seconds, giving workers on the mountain virtually no time to react before they were buried
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.
Indonesian news network Kompas TV first captured images of of excavators digging around in the rubble looking for survivors
Searches for possible for survivors will continue on Saturday, said Mukhammad Yusron, the commander of the region’s military district
Pictured: First responders are seen gathering around the site of the landslide on Friday
Pictured: Excavators worked tirelessly trying to find survivors but were ultimately called off until the sun rises again on Saturday
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.
