Rescue workers say at least 113 people have been killed in a landslide at a jade mining site in northern Myanmar.
At least another five people were injured in yesterday’s accident, said Khin Maung Win, chairman of Thingaha rescue group working at the site.
Maung Myint, a lawmaker from Hpakant Township where the accident occured, said the rescue groups with which he had been in contact said 113 bodies have been recovered and 54 injured sent to hospitals.
The area in Kachin state, close to the Chinese border, is 950km north of Yangon, and is the center of the world’s biggest and most lucrative jade mining industry.
Accidents at such mining sites causing multiple casualties are not rare. The victims are normally freelance miners who settle near giant mounds of discarded earth that has been mined in bulk by heavy machinery.
The disaster struck after an early bout of heavy rainfall, the Myanmar Fire Services Department said in a Facebook post.
“The miners were smothered by a wave of mud,” the statement said. “A total of 113 bodies have been found so far.”
They had apparently defied a warning not to work the treacherous open mines during the rains, local police said.
Rescuers worked all morning to retrieve the bodies from a mud lake, pulling them to the surface and using tires as makeshift rafts.
Police said that search and rescue efforts had been suspended due to more heavy rains.
Additional reporting by AFP
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