A landslide triggered by torrential rains crashed onto an unauthorised gold mining operation on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island, killing at least 11 people, officials said on Monday.

About 33 villagers were digging for grains of gold on Sunday in a pit at the small traditional gold mine in remote Bone Bolango in Gorontalo, when tonnes of mud plunged down the surrounding hills and buried them, said Gorontalo Search and Rescue Agency spokesman Afifuddin Ilahude.

He said rescuers saved two injured people on Sunday and had recovered 11 bodies by Monday.

Rescuers are still searching for 19 others who were reported missing, he said.

Informal mining operations are common in Indonesia, providing a tenuous livelihood to thousands who work in conditions with a high risk of serious injury or death.

Heavy rains triggered a landslide in south Sulawesi, killing at least 18 people in April.