Landslide kills 13 in Myanmar's kachin state

At least 13 people were killed after a landslide near a jade mine in Myanmar's northern state of Kachin, officials and witnesses said Friday.

    The landslide occurred on Thursday night at about 9 pm (0230 GMT) in Hpakant Township of Kachin state, about 950 kilometres north of Yangon, said Dashi La Sung, a regional lawmaker. "The authorities recovered 13 dead bodies from the debris, and brought them to the hospital in Hpakant town," he told dpa. 

    Most of those killed by the landslide were villagers and migrant workers digging for the green jade stones in a heap of displaced earth, a witness said.

    The search had stopped, said local resident Myo Win who helped the rescue effort. "We don't know if anyone is still buried under the debris," he said.

    Deaths from landslides are common in the mining industry in Kachin state, which has some of the highest quality jade in the world. At least 113 people were killed in a large landslide in the same area in November 2015.

Source: QNA