About a dozen believed dead in latest Hpakant landslides

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About a dozen believed dead in latest Hpakant landslides



YANGON: -- About a dozen people are believed to have died after the latest in a sequence of landslides in Hpakant, the heart of Kachin State’s jade mining territory, The Irrawaddy reported.

Between 10 and 15 people near the Lon Khin Alae mining camp were said to have been buried on Thursday morning. A smaller incident went unreported on Tuesday, killing at least two.

Locals told the district MP-elect, Tint Soe of the National League for Democracy, that the earth began to move just after midnight, and that many who lived in the nearby camp were unaware of the danger.

Thursday’s landslide follows two major disasters late last year that left more than 100 dead. The incidents indicated the dangers of Myanmar’s shady jade mining industry, which draws impoverished prospectors from across the country.

Many make their living sifting through mining waste in search of discarded stones, camping out near precarious mounds of rubble to await the next dump truck. The rash of landslides was followed shortly by a government inquiry into illegally imported vehicles used to transport waste.

Protests have been held in the area since late last year, demanding an end to the use of large dump trucks to create mountains of refuse that are likely to give way.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/about-a-dozen-believed-dead-in-latest-hpakant-landslides


-- Thai PBS 2016-01-08