High in the mountains of an isolated region of Indonesia an underground training facility which is part of Grasberg mine collapsed last Tuesday. Ten people have been rescued, but 14 are confirmed dead and another 14 are still missing and are also feared dead.
Rescuers are having difficulty reaching the missing people because Grasberg is in a remote area with mountainous terrain.
The owner of the mine is the U.S. company Freemont McMoRan Copper and Gold Inc., which has its headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona.
Grasberg is one of the largest gold and copper mines in the world. Since the accident, all operations have been suspended, but the collapse is not expected to impact production because it took place in a training area and not where mining activities occur.
This is not the first time Grasberg mine has been in the headlines. Two years ago, thousands of workers went on strike for three months. During that time, gunmen clashed with police leading to the deaths of 11 people.
In fact, sporadic violence at the site of the mine has been taking place since the 1970s, which has often brought bad publicity to Freemont McMoRan, especially when it was revealed that the company was paying millions of dollars to the Indonesian military and police forces to protect mining operations.
Grasberg has also had a devastating impact on the environment, polluting a river and lake and causing severe damage to 11 square miles of rainforest.
With the collapse of the training facility, one thousand people have blocked a road to the mine in support of those injured, missing, and dead and are calling for improved safety standards at the mine.
(Edited from Associated Press, news.com.au, and Wikipedia)