THIRTY-TWO MISSING IN W SUMATRA COAL MINE EXPLOSION

Bogor, June 17 (ANTARA) - Up till Tuesday evening, at least 32 people were reported missing after an explosion ripped through a coal mine in the Indonesian province of West Sumatra at about 12:00 local time, a public health official said.

"Until 18:00 West Indonesian Standard Time (WIB), nine miners were found killed in the explosion at a coal mine at Bukit Bual in Sijunjung district," Dr Rustam S Pakaya MPH, chief of the health ministry's Crisis Control Center , said in an SMS message to the Antara bureai in Bogor on Tuesday evening.

Of the nine dead victims, four were believed killed at the location of the explosion, one died at the Ampalu health center and four others at the Sawah Lunto General Hospital, he said.

The number of those wounded in the explosion was nine, consisting of two with serious injuries and seven with light injuries.

Until now, Rustam said, the regional health service center (PPK) continued coordinating with the Dr Djamil General Hospital in Padang and the Solok General Hospital to help the victims.

In addition, a doctors' team from the disaster victims identification (DVI) unit of West Sumatra province was deployed to help identify the victims of the mine explosion.

In the meantime, the Antara bureau in Padang reported that of the nine dead victims already identified, six were found at about 16:30 local time and three others at 17:30.

The six dead victims first found were identified as Can, Salman, Hengki, Cau, Baba and Ipen, while the three others were identified as Roi, Anton and Nanduk.
The cause of the blast was not immediately known, Sawahlunto district police chief Adjunct Commissioner Jasman said but added the explosion might have been linked to methane gas in the mine. He confirmed that seven people were killed in the accident.

Jasman said over 24 people were still trapped inside the mine and their fate remained unknown.

Another report by MetroTV television station said up to 30 people were trapped inside the mine, which is operated by the state-run Bukit Asam coal mining company.