A landslide killed three people and injured many more yesterday near a mine run by US firm Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold in Indonesia’s Papua province, police said.

The incident, which did not disrupt mining operations, came as the mine is under fire over its environmental practices. Four policemen and a soldier were killed last Thursday in the Papua capital of Jayapura in clashes with protesters demanding the closure of the mine. The landslide of mud came from a mountain above a service area supporting Freeport’s Grasberg mine, said Siddharta Moersjid, a Freeport spokesman. The mine lies near Papua’s Timika town, about 3,500 km (2,200 miles) east of Jakarta. The mud crashed into a dining area catering for Freeport workers in the compound, Moersjid said, adding the incident did not take place in the mine.

He said two of Freeport’s sub-contracted Indonesian workers died in the incident, but Timika police chief Dedy Djunaedy put the death toll at three.

“Until now there are 27 people being treated at Tembagapura hospital,” Djunaedy told Elshinta news radio.

It was unclear whether anyone was still trapped under the mud, Moersjid said, adding the company was investigating.