Two injured, two others missing after mudslide at Freeport’s Grasberg mine

Norway refused to buy Rio Tinto stock for more than a decade because of the environmental damage caused by its Grasberg mine (pictured) in Indonesia. (Image from Michael Thirnbeck on Flickr)

An incident at Freeport-McMoran’s Grasberg mine in Indonesia injured two workers on Wednesday while two other missing, a company spokesman said on Thursday.

The injured workers have been hospitalised while rescue team continues to search for the missing. Mining operation is running normally despite the incident, spokesman Riza Pratama said.

According to Bambang Gatot Ariyono, Indonesia’s director general of coal and minerals at mining ministry, the incident occurred after an area inside the mine was hit by a mudflow.

Mine inspectors are investigating the cause of the incident, Pratama said.

(By Wilda Asmarini and Fransiska Nangoy; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)