Disasters & Accidents

More than 100 missing as jade mine collapses in Myanmar

Bangkok, Dec 22 (EFE).- More than 100 people went missing after a jade mine collapsed in northern Myanmar, local media reported on Wednesday.

The incident occurred during the night in the remote village of Hpakant in Kachin state, according to The Irrawaddy newspaper.

During the weekend another similar accident left six dead in the same area, the largest jade mine in the world, the local Mizzima portal reported.

Mining related accidents are common in Hpakant, where miners work in extremely precarious conditions.

In July 2020, more than 160 miners were trapped in a landslide while extracting the jade during heavy rains.

In 2019, at least 54 people died from a landslide another part of in the mining area, located about 800 kilometers (497 miles) north of the capital city of Naypyidaw.

Thousands of impoverished people from all over the country flock to the jade mines – to which the foreign press is not allowed access – in search of fortune or livelihood, but in most cases the benefits are scarce and the risks are high.

Myanmar is the world’s largest producer of jadeite, a prized variety of jade that is extracted mainly in the Kachin mountains and enjoys a high demand in neighboring China. EFE

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