Thread: Jade Mine In Myanmar Kills 100

Jade Mine in Myanmar kills 100.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/23/wo...-100.html?_r=0
Nearly 100 dead in Myanmar jade mine collapse
Dozens missing in one of the deadliest disasters to strike the country's shadowy jade industry.
22 Nov 2015 22:35 GMT | Landslide, Myanmar, Asia

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According to a rescue official, the landslide happened in the early hours in Hpakant, leaving nearly 100 people dead [Reuters]
Almost 100 people have died in a huge landslide in a remote jade mining area of northern Myanmar, officials say.

Rescuers were still battling to dig through the mountains of loose rubble at the site in Hpakant on Sunday, as search teams continued to find bodies in one of the deadliest disasters to strike the country's shadowy jade industry.

Dozens are still missing, most of them villagers who were sifting through a mountain of tailings and waste.

The region is home to some of the world's highest quality jade, bringing in billions of dollars a year, though researchers say most of that money goes to individuals and companies tied to Myanmar's former military rulers.

Ninety-seven bodies have been pulled from the landslide, according to Nilar Myint, an official from the local administrative authorities in Hpakant, northern Kachin.



The death toll was expected to rise and it remains unclear exactly how many people may be buried.

Landslides are a common hazard in the area as people living off the industry's waste pick their way across perilous mounds under the cover of darkness, driven by the hope that they might find a chunk of jade worth thousands of dollars.
RELATED: The corruption of Myanmar's jade trade

Informal miners risk, and often lose, their lives digging through scraps of the giant mines.

At least 10 people were killed in a landslide in the same area earlier this year.

A report by Global Witness, the transparency campaigner, says jade valued at $31bn was extracted from Myanmar mines last year, calling it "the biggest natural resources heist in modern history".

But that figure is around 10 times the official $3.4bn sales of the precious stone last year, in an industry that has long been shrouded in secrecy with much of the best jade thought to be smuggled directly to China.

Source: Agencies

Tragic R I P

Death Toll From Landslide at Myanmar Jade Mine Reaches 113



The death toll from a landslide at a jade mining site in northern Myanmar’s Kachin state over the weekend has reached at least 113 people, official media reported Monday, and more than 100 others remain missing as recovery efforts continue.

According to the Global New Light of Myanmar, at least two women were among the dead and “many laborers remain missing” in the aftermath of Saturday’s disaster in Hpakant township, which buried some 70 makeshift huts located in a ravine comprising two 200-foot (60-meter) mountains of dump soil.

“Our guess is that there are at least two miners in every hut,” an official from the Hpakant township General Administration Department told the New Light.

“We know that around 70 huts were buried by the landslide. We believe there are another 30 victims under the soil. We will continue our rescue efforts tomorrow.”

According to the report, nine bodies were recovered on Sunday, while another victim was rushed to a local hospital, but died on arrival. The number of dead has made the landslide the worst such disaster in the mining community in recent memory.

The soil was dumped by mining companies last year and had attracted a large number of migrant miners searching for lesser quality jade the firms discarded, the report said, adding that authorities had designated the area as a high risk spot for landslides and notified people not to set up huts there.

more Death Toll From Landslide at Myanmar Jade Mine Reaches 113

RIP How lucky are we not having to scavenge to make ends meet, luck of the draw when born.

No doubt the vacancies have already been filled

..authorities had designated the area as a high risk spot for landslides and notified people not to set up huts there.

Our guess is that there are at least two miners in every hut,” an official from the Hpakant township General Administration Department told the New Light.

The "official" no doubt was collecting rent from every hut!

But at the end of the day individuals on this planet are responsible for their own safety. Legislation and enforcement only goes so far...