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Deaths reported in Myanmar jade mine collapse

State media reports at least 30 dead and more than 100 villagers missing following landslide.

 

22 Nov 2015 – A landslide near a jade mine in northern Myanmar has killed at least 30 people and left more than 100 missing, according to state media, a local community leader.
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.

Most of the missing are villagers who were sifting through a mountain of tailings and waste.
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.

According to a rescue official, the landslide happened in the early hours in Hpakant and nearly 80 bodies have been pulled out.

“So far we have found nearly 80 bodies from the collapsed dump as we continue searching for the missing,” the official from the Hpakant Township Fire Brigade told Reuters by telephone.

The region is home to some of the world’s highest quality jade, bringing in billions of dollars a year, though researchers say most of that money goes to individuals and companies tied to Myanmar’s former military rulers.

Informal miners risk, and often lose, their lives digging through scraps of the giant mines.

At least 10 people were killed in a landslide in the same area earlier this year.

Landslides are a common hazard in the area as people living off the
industry’s waste pick their way across perilous mounds under cover of darkness, driven by the hope that they might find a chunk of jade worth thousands of dollars.

A report by Global Witness, the transparency campaigner, says jade valued at $31bn was extracted from Myanmar mines last year, calling it “the biggest natural resources heist in modern history”.

But that figure is around 10 times the official $3.4bn sales of the precious stone last year, in an industry that has long been shrouded in secrecy with much of the best jade thought to be smuggled directly to China.

 

Source: different agencies

 

 

 

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