Twenty Youngsters Reported Missing at Gold Mine

The authorities of Bac Tra My district in the central province of Quang Nam have asked relevant agencies to investigate the missing of 20 ethnic minority youngsters at a local gold mine. According to Bac Tra My officials, over 20 young men of the Cadong ethnic group left their home to work at the Phuoc Son gold mine for several months. Since then, their families have not got any information about them.
The “missing” people include 13 men and 7 women, who left their home in May 2010. Local police forces are seeking these people. It is suspected that these people may be cheated and enslaved like the young man named Dinh Van Huy, who was rescued by police on October 24 after he was found in a cave, having escaped from a gold mine and lost his way in the jungle nearly a month earlier. There are hundreds of private gold mining sites in Phuoc Son and Nam Giang districts in Quang Nam province, where hundreds of youngsters and children work. In related news, the man who was rescued on October 24 in a cave has just been verified to be 15 years old only, not 18 as the first report. (vietnamnet Oct 29)