Twelve people have been confirmed dead and another eleven have been injured following a landslide at a jade mine at Hpakant in Kachin State, Myanmar, on Tuesday 24 May 2016. It is feared that many more people may be trapped beneath the rubble following the event, which occurred on a spoil heap produced by a large mining concern that was itself being worked by smaller artisanal miners looking for pieces of jade missed by the larger operation.
The scene of the 24 May 2016 Hpakant landslip. AFP.
Myanmar is the world's largest producer of jade, though much of this is
produced (along with other precious and semi-precious minerals such as
amber) at unregulated (and often illegal) artisanal mines in the north
of the country, from where it is smuggled into neighbouring China.
Accidents at such mines are extremely common, due to the more-or-less
total absence of any safety precautions at the site. At many sites this
is made worse by the unregulated use of explosives to break up rocks,
often leading to the weakening of rock faces, which can then collapse
without warning. The majority of people in this industry are migrant workers from the
surrounding countryside, not registered with any local authority, which can make it difficult for rescuers to identify victims following such events, or even gain accurate assessments of the number of people likely to have been involved in such accidents.
The approximate location of the Hpakant jade mines. Google Maps.
See also...
Landslide kills at least five at mine in Kachin State, Myanmar. Five people have been confirmed dead and as many as fifty more may be
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involved is unclear because the...
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Rockslide kills at least nine at Myanmar jade mine. Nine people have been confirmed dead and about twenty more are thought
to still be missing following a rockslide on a spill heap at a jade mine
at Hpakant in Kachin State, Myanmar, on Monday 20 March 2015. All the
people caught in the landslide are understood...
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