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Rescue workers are using makeshift stretchers to haul survivors of an Indonesian gold mine collapse through steep terrain to safety as the death toll rose to six and dozens remain trapped in the debris.

A disaster official in North Sulawesi's Bolaang Mongondow district, Abdul Muin Paputungan, says 19 people have been rescued and about 40 are still buried as of Thursday.

Photos showed a trapped miner's arms reaching through a gap in rocks and rescuers toiling through the night in arduous conditions.

Wooden structures in the unlicensed mine collapsed on Tuesday evening due to shifting soil and the large number of mining holes.

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