A gold mine landslide in Indonesia has killed 15 people, with 25 still trapped following torrential rains.

The victims were reportedly suspected of carrying out illegal mining activities at the former gold mine in Solok Regency, West Sumatra, on Thursday, September 26.

The head of the Solok Regency Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), Irwan Effendi, blamed the landslide on heavy rainfall.

He said: 'Since the afternoon the last few days the rainfall has been quite high.'

Irwan explained that the landslide occurred in the Abu River, Hiliran Gumanti District, Solok Regency. Access to the incident location requires an eight-hour walk.

He added: 'The landslide location is a former gold excavation that was abandoned by previous miners.'

The community has initiated the evacuation process.

Irwan said victims came from Nagari-nagari in Hiliran Gumanti and Pekonina Districts, South Solok Regency.

He said: 'To date, 15 deceased victims have been successfully evacuated. The Solok Regency health service has also sent seven ambulances to the location to assist with the evacuation.'

'The victims consisted of people who carried out gold panning activities manually.

'Data on the names and status of the victims has not yet been obtained because the evacuation process is still ongoing.'

The joint search and rescue team, along with military and police personnel and the surrounding community, continues to search for the 25 people still buried.

On July 7, at least 23 people were killed in a gold mine landslide in Gorontalo province.

Eighteen people died on Sulawesi Island in April due to landslides triggered by heavy rains.

Indonesia and neighbouring countries in Southeast Asia are at the start of their annual monsoon rainy season which sees soaring temperatures followed by powerful rain storms. The rudimentary infrastructure often struggles with the deluge, leading to widespread flash floods.