At least 30 people were killed in a huge landslide as they picked through mountains of waste rubble in a remote mining area of northern Myanmar searching for precious jade, state media reported Sunday.
The Global New Light of Myanmar reported that “at least 30 dead bodies were retrieved from a landslide site and more are missing” after the massive collapse in Hpakant, Kachin State on Saturday, quoting local officials and media reports.
Rescuers were thought to still be battling to dig through the mountains of loose rubble at the site on Sunday, with fears that the toll could rise further, in the latest deadly accident to affect Myanmar’s secretive multi-billion dollar jade industry in war-torn Kachin.
Those killed were thought to have been scavenging through a mountain of waste rubble dumped by mechanical diggers used by the mining firms in the area to extract Myanmar’s most valuable precious stone.
Landslides are a common hazard in the area as people living off the industry’s waste, driven by the hope that they might find a chunk of jade worth thousands of dollars, pick their way across perilous mounds under cover of darkness.
Scores have been killed this year alone as local people say the mining firms, many of which are linked to the country’s junta-era military elite, scale up their operations in Kachin.