Myanmar mine deaths ‘likely’ dozens

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December 24, 2021

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Myanmar mine deaths ‘likely’ dozens

Source: Agencies | 00:21 UTC+8 December 24, 2021 |

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Myanmar rescuers found two more bodies at a jade mine yesterday after an official conceded there was little hope of finding survivors among scores of people buried by an avalanche of dirt and rubble while searching for fragments of the gems.

Many were swept into a lake below by the landslide of mining waste, prompting a desperate search by volunteers and workers in hard hats aboard rubber boats.

Two more bodies were found yesterday morning taking the confirmed death toll at the mine in the Hpakant area to three, Pyae Nyein, captain of Hpakant Township’s fire department, said. “We are continuing the search. So far no one has survived,” Pyae Nyein said. Earlier, he said about 50 people still unaccounted for had likely also died.

Kachin Network Development Foundation, a civil society group involved in the rescue operation, estimated the number missing at around 80, while the Myanmar Now news portal cited sources as saying as many as 100 may be buried under the mining waste.

“In incidents like this, bodies usually only turn up four to seven days later,” Myanmar Now cited Min Naing of the Thingaha volunteer organization.

Deadly landslides and other accidents are common in Hpakant.

In a landslide last weekend, at least six people died, and in July last year more than 170 died in one of the worst disasters in Hpakant after mining waste also collapsed into a lake.

Economic pressures due to the pandemic have drawn more migrants to the mines even as conflict has flared since Myanmar’s military seized power in February.

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Myanmar mine deaths ‘likely’ dozens

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