Death toll rises to 113 in monsoon landslides in Myanmar’s northernmost state
Miners at the Hpakant jade mining area in Kachin State. Tens of thousands of Myanmar youths come to Hpakant, the so-called land of Jade, with the hope of escaping poverty and making money through jade mining, despite treacherous conditions like landslides. Still, Kachin promises huge wealth for some, as its land holds the rare mineral jadeite, the world’s highest quality jade. Photo - EPA. Sketched by the Pan Pacific Agency.
HPAKANT, Jul 2, 2020, Xinhua. The death toll from monsoon landslides in Myanmar’s Kachin state has risen to 113 as more bodies were recovered on Thursday, said a release from the Information Ministry, ECNS reported.
“An over 304-meter high cliff collapsed, burying local jade scavengers,” a rescue worker at the scene was quoted in the ministry’s earlier release as saying.
Caused by the monsoon rains, the landslides occurred at a jade mining site in Sate Mu village tract of Hpakant township at 08:00 a.m. local time, according to a release from the Fire Services Department.
Hundreds of jade scavengers are feared to have been buried as the landslides occurred during their working hours, but exact numbers of casualties are yet to be known and rescue operations are being carried out, a township police officer told Xinhua.
Deadly landslides are frequent in Kachin state, known as land of jade, especially in Hpakant mining region.
Many local people make living by jade scavenging in the region and most of the landslides are caused by partial collapse of tailings heaps and dams.
A major landslide, which occurred in the region in November 2015, left at least 116 jade scavengers dead.
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