YANGON: A landslide which took place on Sunday morning in the northern part of Myanmar, has killed more than 100 people while an estimated 100 to 200 people are reported to be missing.
Most of the people who went missing are the nearby villagers who were digging for green stones near a Jade mine in the Kachin state community of Hpakant.
Brang Seng, one of the witnesses of the landslide incident and also a community leader said “It is unfortunate for the poor people out there. Many of them went missing in the landslide, i believe there are still a 100-200 people below the debris”.
“Many of them lost their loved ones and in some cases whole family went missing,” he added.
Rescue teams have been working hard to bring out the dead bodies underneath the debris. A witness said that boulders from the mountain came down rolling after the land slide, killing people working at the base of the mountain.
Kachin, about 950 Kilometers from Yangon is famous for its highest-quality jade resources. The jade industry here has generated $31 billion revenue in the previous year, a majority of which goes to the individuals and family members of Myanmar’s former military rulers. Local sources said that the Government officials make complete misuse of the resource revenues.