At least 13 killed in Myanmar jade mine landslide

Source:AFP Published: 2019/7/28 20:43:41

At least 13 jade mine workers and security guards in northern Myanmar were killed in a landslide Sunday, authorities said, as rescuers frantically searched for more victims.

Myanmar's fire services department said in a Facebook post the accident happened in the early morning in Hpakant township.

"We have sent two injured men and the dead bodies of 13 men" to a local hospital, the department said.

A police officer on the scene told AFP that the upper part of a mine collapsed and fell around 200 meters onto those sleeping below.

Dozens die each year in landslides caused by jade mining, a dangerous and poorly regulated industry in Kachin state.

Though new regulations suspend mining during the wet season peak from July through September, some workers stay on site.

Heavy rains pounded the area over the last week, according to the officer, who said the search for those missing is ongoing. The deadly landslide is the latest to hit Hpakant, the epicenter of a multibillion jade trade.

In April more than 54 people were killed when a massive landslide buried workers along with dozens of vehicles.

Many miners are from impoverished ethnic minority communities who risk their lives hunting the translucent green gemstone.

Drug addiction among workers is also a major problem in Hpakant, which has been turned into a vast moonscape-like terrain by years of mining.

Watchdog Global Witness estimated that the industry was worth some $31 billion in 2014.




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