Ridwan Wadjah has a clear memory of the moment when a massive wave of mud engulfed him and the numerous miners laboring in an unauthorized gold mine on Indonesia's Sulawesi island this week. A landslide caused by intense rainfall in the island's Suwawa district buried the mine on Sunday, resulting in 23 fatalities. Rescue teams are in a race against time to locate the 27 individuals still unaccounted for, but the search was suspended on Thursday due to continuous rainfall, according to rescue official Afifuddin Ilahude. Ridwan was among the 95 miners who managed to survive. After extricating himself from the mud and debris, he fled to a nearby village in the dead of night to request assistance. The villagers, concerned about the ongoing rain, advised him to wait until daybreak, he recounted.
"I still vividly recall the scene of the landslide," he told Reuters days after the incident. Landslides are a common occurrence in Indonesia, often exacerbated by deforestation and small-scale illegal mining activities in remote areas that are challenging for authorities to monitor. Another miner, Rikson Buhungo, was carried into a pit by the landslide. He sustained injuries to his legs and upper body, but all 10 miners he worked with perished, he disclosed. Illegal mining is the sole means of livelihood for many families in remote parts of Indonesia. Ridwan's family is among them, but the 53-year-old expressed a need for a respite following the accident.
"I really need to take a break now. And with the constant rain, it's necessary," he stated. When asked how he would manage financially now, Ridwan replied: "I can only rely on God to sort things out. I must simply be patient."
