Officials: Gold miners die in landslide in Indonesia

JAKARTA, Indonesia—Officials say at least 13 illegal gold miners were killed in a landslide in Indonesia's remote Papua province.

Nine other are reported missing and feared dead.

A spokesman for Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. says the landslide occurred about three miles from the company's Grasberg gold and copper mine.

The spokesman, Mindo Pangaribuan, says the victims were digging illegally and the company has sent heavy lifting equipment to assist in efforts to retrieve bodies.

Police say the landslide struck the mining camp after heavy rains. The camp is more than 2,000 miles from Jakarta.

Landslides kill dozens of people every year in Indonesia, a vast tropical archipelago spanning more than 17,000 islands along the equator.

Phoenix-based Freeport-McMoRan is one of the world's largest miners of copper and gold.