At least 40 jade miners are missing after another landslide in Kachin state’s deadly Hpakant region on Tuesday night.
A mound of soil and refuse from the mining operation collapsed not far from the place where another landslide killed 100 in November, Radio Free Asia reported.
“I heard that about 40 are missing, though we have the names of only three missing people,” said Naw Law, secretary of the Kachin National Social Development Foundation.
“We went there to help rescue victims but couldn’t do very much because of the possibility of further landslides.”
There was no sign of government rescue efforts, he said, though some civil society organizations were present.
According to RFA, jade mining has ramped up in Hpakant ahead of the transfer of power to Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, scheduled to take place early this year.
