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YANGON—Rescuers have recovered 25 our bodies whereas 14 individuals stay lacking after a landslide at an unregulated jade mine in a distant area of Myanmar, emergency staff mentioned Tuesday.
Myanmar has been hit with torrential rain and floods in current days and the landslide occurred Sunday outdoors northern Kachin’s Hpakant Township.
Jade mining in Myanmar is a profitable enterprise however the unregulated business is plagued with frequent employee deaths together with greater than 170 fatalities in the identical space following a 2020 landslide.
“We discovered 25 lifeless our bodies in whole at the moment,” a rescue employee informed AFP on Tuesday, including that 14 individuals had been nonetheless lacking and the restoration effort would proceed Wednesday.
Rescuers needed to dig by way of mud to search out our bodies, whereas others had been floating in water.
An enormous pile of earth about 150-180 meters excessive left behind by mining excavations was loosened by the extraordinary rainfall and collapsed, based on rescuers.
The mine’s operations had been suspended in the course of the wet season, however these caught within the landslide had been believed to be locals hoping to search out one thing useful within the mud.
The jade business depends on low-paid migrant staff to scrape out a gem extremely coveted in neighboring China.
Jade and different ample pure sources in Myanmar’s north—together with timber, gold and amber—have helped finance each side of a decades-long civil struggle between ethnic Kachin insurgents and the army.
Whereas environmentalist and rights teams have lengthy referred to as for reforms, a 2021 army coup successfully ended hopes for higher requirements within the business, based on worldwide watchdogs.
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