Myanmar jade mine landslide kills 113 (2nd Ld)

Yangon, July 2 (IANS) At least 113 bodies were found on Thursday, while several others were reported missing after a landslide hit a jade mining site in Myanmar’s Kachin state, officials said.

“A more than 304 metre-high cliff collapsed, burying those collecting stones,” Xinhua news agency quoted a rescue worker at the scene as saying.

Caused by the monsoon rains, the landslide occurred at the site in Sate Mu village tract of Hpakant township at 8 a.m., according to the Fire Services Department.

Rescue work is continuing for people still missing at the site.

Deadly landslides are frequent in Kachin state, known as land of jade.

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.

Myanmar is the world’s biggest source of jade, said a BBC report.

The country’s jade trade is reported to be worth more than $30 billion a year. Hpakant is the site of the world’s biggest jade mine.

–IANS

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