Police question quarry owner after deadly collapse in Indonesia

Indonesian police are questioning six people after a rock collapse at a quarry in West Java.

The quarry owner is among those being quizzed as the investigation continues into what caused the incident at the Gunung Kuda quarry on Friday.

A dozen survivors have been found following the collapse in Cirebon district.

By Saturday afternoon, rescuers had retrieved 16 bodies, and one of the survivors died in hospital, according to local police chief Sumarni.

She said rescuers are searching for eight people still believed to be trapped in the rubble.

"The search operation has been hampered by bad weather, unstable soil and rugged terrain," added Sumarni, who goes by a single name, as is customary for many Indonesians.

Local television showed emergency personnel, police, soldiers and volunteers desperately digging through the debris at the foot of a steep limestone cliff on Saturday.

Further footage captured excavators trying to shift huge rocks and workers placing body bags in an ambulance.

Illegal or informal mines are common in Indonesia, and bring the risk of landslides, flooding and tunnel collapses.

On Friday, West Java governor Dedi Mulyadi said he had ordered the closure of this quarry, as well as four other similar sites in the province.

Last year, a landslide triggered by torrential rains wiped out an unauthorised gold mining operation on Indonesia's Sumatra island, killing at least 15 people.