Emergency workers and local residents are searching through rubble for missing survivors following a major landslide at a Chinese-owned gold mine in the Solomon Islands.
The disaster occurred shortly after midnight in an open pit at the Gold Ridge mine, which is located roughly 25 kilometres southeast of the capital city, Honiara.
While official authorities have not yet released a verified death toll, local news reports indicate that rescue teams have recovered ten bodies from the disaster site.
Local resident Milie Luvu described joining exhaustingly long searches alongside distraught villagers looking for missing family members buried under the debris.
Reports from the site suggest that informal miners living near the facility had entered the open pit to search for gold before the collapse occurred.
Before heavy machinery could begin clearing large boulders and earth, village chiefs, emergency services, and police held a traditional ceremony above the collapse site.
Footage shared on social media showed rescue teams manual clearing rocks across a wide field of fallen earth while waiting for heavy equipment to arrive.
Staff at the National Referral Hospital in Honiara confirmed they were preparing to receive victims, with medical workers noting several fatalities had already occurred.
Gold Ridge Mining, which manages the operation, issued an initial statement stating it was working closely with the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force while assessing the incident.
The company noted that it could not immediately verify the full extent of casualties while search efforts remained active.
The Gold Ridge operation represents a major pillar of the national economy and launched a significant expansion project last year.
Majority owner Wanguo International Mining confirmed in May that the mine contributed nearly a quarter of the total gross domestic product of the Solomon Islands last year.
The disaster occurs as Prime Minister Matthew Wale prepares sweeping policy reforms across the mining industry to ensure local communities receive a larger share of mineral revenues.
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