There has been a poisoning incident that happened to a group of treasure hunters on Mandigu Hill, Lampeji Village, Mulyasari Sub-district, Jember, East Java on December 10, 2017. The incident happened to a group of people who were looking for treasure in the hill. There are 8 people on the scene, four people trapped inside the cave and four others survived.
At the time of the incident four of them were digging a 15-meter deep pit and the others were unable to rise to suspected surfaces due to poisonous gas poisoning from a water-draining machine. 4 people trapped inside, 3 people died and one other critical. Then all the victims were immediately taken to Soebandi Hospital.
The evacuation of victims was conducted by a joint team. The narrowness of the excavation hole and the lack of air become an obstacle for the team when conducting the evacuation. After nearly three hours of struggling, the victims were eventually evacuated one by one. Of the eight participants of the treasure hunt ritual, five were rescued with one of them critical. While three others died from oxygen depletion.
The victims died from the toxic smoke poisoning used to drain the water from the bottom of the pit.
