At least 126 killed in Myanmar jade mine collapse
NAYPYITAW: A landslide at a jade mine in northern Myanmar killed at least 126 people and left nearly 200 more missing, authorities said on Thursday.
The accident occurred as a heap of mining waste collapsed into a lake, triggering a wave of mud and water that buried many workers.
The miners were collecting stones in the jade-rich Hpakant area of Kachin state when the “muddy wave” crashed onto them, after heavy rain, the fire service department said . A statement from the ministry of information said 123 bodies had been recovered while the fire service, which coordinates rescues, put the total at 126. “Other bodies are in the mud,” said Tar Lin Maung, a local official with the information ministry. “The numbers are going to rise.”
Deadly landslides and other accidents are common in the poorly regulated mines of Hpakant, which draw impoverished workers from across Myanmar, but this is the worst in more than five years. About 100 people were killed in a collapse in 2015, which strengthened calls to regulate the industry. Video footage on social media showed frantic miners racing uphill to escape as a towering pile of black waste cascaded into a turquoise lake, churning up a tsunami-like wave of mud.
Photos showed rows of dead bodies laid out on a hill, covered by tarpaulin.
Maung Khaing, a 38-year-old miner from the area who witnessed the accident, said he was about to take a picture of the precarious waste mound that looked set to collapse when people began shouting “run, run!”.
“Within a minute, all the people at the bottom (of the hill) just disappeared,” he told Reuters by phone. “I feel empty in my heart. I still have goose bumps ... There were people stuck in the mud shouting for help but no one could help them.”
Than Hlaing, a member of a local civil society group helping in the aftermath of the disaster, said those killed in the accident were freelancers scavenging the waste left by a larger mining company. She said about 100 people were still missing and 30 had been hospitalised.
Official sales of jade in Myanmar were worth 671 million euros ($750 million) in 2016-17, according to data published by the government.
Than Hlaing said a local official had warned people not to go to the mine on Thursday because of the bad weather. “There’s no hope for the families to get compensation as they were freelance miners,” she said, “I don’t see any route to escape this kind of cycle. People take risks, go into landfills, as they have no choice.”