Three people are now confirmed dead from Wednesday’s landslide at a jade mine in northern Myanmar.
The disaster occurred before dawn in the Hpakant area of Kachin state, the heart of the country’s jade industry. Rescue workers say the landslide swept dozens of workers into a nearby lake.
Initial reports said as many as 70 people were missing in the disaster, but authorities say they are still trying to confirm those numbers.
Landslides are a common occurrence for Myanmar’s lucrative but poorly regulated jade mining industry, which employs migrants and workers from across Myanmar to dig for the precious gems that are sold across the border in China.
Hundreds of miners were killed last year in a massive landslide in Hpakant.
The country’s now-ousted elected government began efforts to reform the jade mining industry, but those efforts came to a halt when the military took power in the February 1 coup.
Source: Voice of America