Jakarta Globe, Banjir Ambarita, October 21, 2013
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| An aerial view of the Grasberg Mine. (Reuters Photo/Muhammad Yamin) |
Jayapura.
Security officials at Freeport Indonesia’s massive Grasberg Mine discovered
that nine foreign nationals who said they were mountain climbers had entered
the mine without permission, according to a source within the company.
The nine
hikers allegedly entered the open pit mine in Papua province, which is the
largest gold mine and the third largest copper mine in the world, at some point
on Sunday and were found by security later that day.
The
climbers have been identified by the anonymous source within the company as
Swiss nationals Michel Wirth-Fragata, 44; Silvan Schenk, 57; Matthias Halchey,
34; Fritz Yacobv, 60; and Daniel Meyerhoff, 45; German national Reinhard
Buscher, 61; Austrian national Alois Fuchs; and Matheus ven der Maulen, 59,
from the Netherlands.
The ninth
climber and the only female in the group, who has been identified only as Elen
Anezlua, 42, was taken to the hospital in Tembagapura to receive treatment for
severe dehydration.
The others
were taken to the Freeport security office in Sugapa Grasberg.
“What
happened is that those foreign climbers took their own route to climb Mount
Carstensz,” said Freeport Indonesia spokeswoman Daisy Primayanti. Mount
Carstensz is the tallest mountain in central Papua province’s Sudirman range.
“One
suffered from a light injury and they decided to turn back, through a [mining]
work route,” she said. “In light of the conditions, [we] have facilitated
logistical relief so that they can descend to the plateau.”
She said
they were not allowed in the work area “for safety reasons.”
Local
police were not immediately available to comment.
Freeport
Indonesia, a subsidiary of US mining giant Freeport McMoRan, operates gold and
copper mining in Papua’s Timika district. The Indonesian government owns a
stake in Freeport Indonesia as well.
This article contains a number of errors and false statements. As one of the nine climbers, I would like to clarify that we were not lost in the mountains, but abandoned by our porters who left us without prior notice. The only way back to civilization was by entering the Grasberg Mine, hoping for logistical support from the mine. We never claimed that somebody of our team was injured. We are grateful to the mine administration that after some discussions the expected support was granted to us, as we were the victims of an incompentent local travel agency.. Dr. Reinhard Büscher (Germany)
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