Australian shot dead near Freeport Papua mine

JAKARTA (Reuters) - An Australian worker has been shot dead near the massive Grasberg mine in Indonesia's Papua province run by a unit of Freeport McMoran Copper & Gold Inc, Papua's police chief said on Saturday.

"An Australian working for Freeport got shot at 5.30 this morning," police chief Bagus Ekodanto said by telephone, adding the shooting happened between Tembagapura and Timika.

A spokesman for PT Freeport Indonesia confirmed a company worker had been shot dead. He said the attack took place outside the mining area and operations were not affected.

"We confirm there was a shooting around mile-post 52 to 53 of a Freeport vehicle where one passenger who sat in the back was shot dead," said Freeport spokesman Mindo Pangaribuan, adding he could not immediately confirm the nationality of the victim.

He added that it was unclear who was behind the attack and police were investigating.

A spokesman at the Australian embassy in Jakarta declined to immediately comment.

Another police official said the dead man worked in Freeport's construction department. Timika police chief Godhelp C. Mansnembra also said three others were wounded in the shooting and were being treated at a local hospital.

But Freeport Indonesia said in a statement that the other passengers were unharmed.

Police and Indonesia's anti-terrorism unit, Detachment 88, had tightened security in the area after the shooting, the company said.