90 bodies pulled from landslide at Myanmar jade mine with scores missing

At least 90 bodies have been pulled from a landslide near a jade mine in Myanmar’s northern Kachin State and an estimated 100 people are still missing, a rescue official said on Sunday. The landslide happened in the early hours in Hpakant, an area that produces some of the world’s highest quality jade, but the mines and dump sites for debris are rife with hazards. Workers, many of them migrants from other parts of the country, toil long hours for little pay.

Industrial-scale mining by big companies controlled by military families and companies, cronies and drug lords has made Hpakant a dystopian wasteland where locals are literally having the ground cut from under their feet.

Mike Davis of Global Witness

Myanmar’s jade industry is extremely opaque and much of the jade that is mined in Hpakant is believed to be smuggled to neighboring China where the stone is highly valued. According to researchers from environmental advocacy group Global Witness, which published a comprehensive report on the sector earlier this year, the value of jade production in Myanmar is estimated to have been as much as US$31 billion in 2014.

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