At least 33 were killed and over a dozen still missing after a massive landslide at a jade mine in northern Myanmar on Monday. According to the officials who were engaged in the rescue operations, a landslide occurred near Kachin's Hpakant township as the region has been receiving torrential rainfall.
The leader of a local rescue team coordinating search efforts told The Associated Press on Monday that more than 30 miners who were digging for jade were swept into a lake when the landslide hit near Manna village around 3:30 pm on Sunday. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared being arrested by the military.
Earth and debris from several mines near the village slid 304 meters (about 1,000 feet) down a cliff into the lake below and struck the miners on the way, he said. A miner who asked not to be identified because he feared for his safety said three of his colleagues who were digging for jade were carried down into the lake by the landslide. He said most of the victims were men.
Similar accidents usually occur on a smaller scale and do not get much attention.
In 2020, at least 162 people were killed in similar incident
The victims are usually independent miners who settle near giant mounds of discarded earth that have been excavated by heavy machinery used by mining companies. They scavenge for bits of jade and usually work and live in abandoned mining pits at the base of the unstable mounds of earth. Most of the scavengers are unregistered migrants from other areas.
In July 2020, at least 162 people died in a landslide in the same area, while a November 2015 accident left 113 dead.
The mines are also a main source of revenue for the Kachin Independence Army, an ethnic armed group that is based in Kachin state and has been fighting for decades against the central government for greater autonomy.
