(From Reuters)
Dozens of people were feared dead in Myanmar after a landslide hit a jade mining region, workers at a local mining firm said, the second such incident in just over a month.
The landslide took place on Friday in Hpakant in the country’s northern Kachin State, a rugged region sandwiched between China and India and the heart of Myanmar’s multi-billion dollar jade industry controlled by its powerful military.
“We heard about 50 people were buried in the collapsed dump and four or five bodies were found this morning,” Sai Lon, who works at a jade mining company in the area, told Reuters on Saturday.
Police in Hpakant, in Mohnyin district, said the landslide took place on Friday afternoon but that they could not confirm casualties.
“We haven’t heard anything from the rescue team yet,” said a duty officer at Hpakant Township Police Station who declined to be named.
On Nov. 22, a massive landslide in the same mountainous area in Kachin State killed 114 people. The area produces some of the world’s highest-quality jade. Read More