A mudslide at a Myanmar jade mine swept over a village on Monday and eight people were confirmed killed with dozens missing, residents of the area in Kachin state said, the latest disaster in the unregulated sector in which scores of people are killed every year.
The mud swept through Sa Paut village in Hpakant township before dawn on Monday, after a pond full of jade-mining slurry overflowed, residents said.
The bodies of three children, two women and three men, had been found by late morning but dozens were missing, residents said.
“The damage was worse as it happened at night when everyone was sleeping,” a Hpakant resident told Radio Free Asia.
“There were eight bodies found by 11:30 this morning … but there may be more dead.”
Residents said about 50 homes were engulfed by mud and many villagers had joined a rescue effort.
In Kachin state’s Tanai township, 15 people were killed in an air raid on a gold mine on Saturday, residents in the area said.
RFA tried to telephone the military’s spokesman for Kachin state, Moe Min Thein, for information on the situation but he did not answer.
Edited by Mike Firn
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