"Twelve dead victims have been identified from the incident. Officers are still finding out whether it was an accident or a crime of negligence," Bambang Kuncoko, a spokesman at the national police headquarters, told reporters.

A local official in Cipatat said the diggers lived nearby.

"The site has been closed by the local government, but residents still try to dig ... to pay debts or make ends meet. Many are jobless here," Hermanto told Reuters by phone from Cipatat, located near the West Java capital of Bandung.