9 people die in Myanmar after landslide hits jade mine

By Kyaw Ye Lynn

YANGON, Myanmar (AA) - Nine bodies were recovered from a landslide-hit jade mine in northern Kachin state Friday, according to police.

A 200-feet cliff of debris and waste soil collapsed near a jade mine in Hpakant township of restive Kachin state, 950 kilometers (600 miles) northeast of Myanmar's biggest city, Yangon, late Thursday.

Police officer Tin Tun Aung told Anadolu Agency search operation had been called off due to threats of further landslides.

“The team ended their search because there’s a possibility of further landslides from nearby cliffs,” the officer said.

According to local media reports, an estimated dozen people remain missing.

“No one knows how many are missing,” the police officer added.

Hpakant area is in the heart of Myanmar's billion dollar jade industry, which has seen about 11 landslides since October 2016 when mining companies resumed operations at the end of the rainy season.

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