(CNN) More than 50 people are missing and feared dead after a mudslide buried workers at a jade mine in Myanmar's Kachin State, according to reports.

The state-run Myanmar News Agency reported that the slide was caused after a lake collapse in the city of Hpakant in the early hours Tuesday.

Three people have been confirmed killed and 51 are believed to be trapped by a "mud lake" created by the landslide, Myanmar news agency reported.

"Finding bodies is proving difficult. About 60 volunteers from our philanthropic association are participating in the search for bodies," said U Khin Maung, chairman of a local philanthropic organization, according to Burmese state media.

Jade is believed to be one of Myanmar's most profitable exports and worth billions of dollars, fueled in large part by demand in neighboring China.</s>Search and rescue personnel and locals gather at a jade mine following a landslide in Hpakant, Kachin state.

YANGON - Recovery teams in Myanmar fought against a huge lake of sludge on Wednesday (April 24) in their search for bodies after a landslide engulfed more than 50 jade miners - the latest fatal accident in a notoriously dangerous but highly lucrative industry.

Dozens die each year in landslides caused by jade mining, a poorly regulated industry rife with corruption.

The disaster struck the mine in Hpakant township in northern Kachin state late on Monday night.

Police initially described how a "mud lake" buried 54 miners - all feared dead - while there were sleeping, although they said on Wednesday that the men had been working a night shift at the time.

By nightfall on Tuesday, only three bodies had been recovered, a police officer from Hpakant Township, who asked not to be named, told AFP.

"Searching in the mud is difficult - it's not like soil," he added.

The site is mined by Myanmar Thura Gems and Shwe Nagar Koe Kaung companies.

Myanmar Thura Gems director Hla Soe Oo told AFP by phone that the company was "helping the families identify the victims' bodies".

The open jade mines in Hpakant township have turned the landscape into a vast moonscape-like terrain of barren hills and vast valleys of dirt scoured by companies for the precious gems.

Impoverished ethnic communities often scavenge the terrain for scraps left behind by big firms - and are frequently the main victims of landslides.

But police told AFP that there were "no informal workers" on the site at the time of this mudslide.

A major collapse in November 2015 left more than 100 dead, while in July last year, the bodies of 23 victims were recovered after a search hampered by heavy monsoon rains.

The jade industry is largely driven by insatiable demand from neighbouring China, where the translucent green gemstone has long been prized.

Watchdog Global Witness estimated the industry was worth some US$31 billion (S$42.14 billion) in 2014, although very little reaches state coffers.

Northern Myanmar's abundant natural resources - including jade, timber, gold and amber - help finance both sides of a decades-long civil war between ethnic Kachin insurgents and the military.

The administration of former US president Barack Obama lifted jadeite and rubies sanctions in 2016, despite concerns from watchdog groups of the abuses plaguing the industry and its ties to former junta stalwarts.</s>Naypyitaw, Myanmar -- More than 50 people are believed to have died in a mudslide at a jade mining site in northern Myanmar, a lawmaker representing the area said Tuesday.

Tin Soe said three bodies have been recovered and 54 people remain missing after the accident Monday night in the Hpakant area of Kachin state.

"The rescue process will not be easy as they're under the mud, not just ordinary soil. It is really difficult to get the bodies back," he said.

The mud flowed down on the workers from a collapsed reservoir made from a disused mining pit to contain materials discarded from the mining process.

The landscape in the area is extremely uneven, with mountains of debris and valleys formed from abandoned mines.

The mud covered not only the workers but also mining equipment, including bulldozers and backhoes, from the Myanmar Thuya Co. and 9 Dragons Co.

Tin Soe said the missing were buried under mud up to 100 feet deep.

"There is no machine to pump out the mud," he said by phone. "It could cost millions of dollars."

Local officials did not answer phone calls seeking comment on the accident. Myanmar's Information Ministry said on its Facebook page that rescue operations have been carried out since Tuesday morning by local authorities together with social welfare organizations.

A similar accident involving the release of a massive amount of mud occurred in March, damaging some equipment but causing no deaths.

Accidents involving heavy casualties in the jade mining area are not rare, but usually have a different cause.

They usually occur at the foot of giant mounds of discarded earth that has been mined in bulk by heavy machinery, with scavengers searching for scraps of jade at their base. The scavengers are usually itinerant workers from other areas who are not registered with local authorities, so the identities of victims, and even the death toll, often remain unknown.

Scavenging for jade remnants is dangerous and not well regulated. More than 100 people were killed in a single landslide in November 2015.

Hpakant, 600 miles north of Myanmar's biggest city, Yangon, is the center of the world's biggest and most lucrative jade mining industry.

According to Global Witness, a London-based group that investigates misuse of revenues from natural resources, the industry generated about $31 billion in 2014, with most of the wealth going to individuals and companies tied to Myanmar's former military rulers.

Local activists said the profitability of jade mining led businesses and the government to neglect enforcing already very weak regulations in the industry.

The region is also enmeshed in an armed conflict between the government and ethnic rebels from the Kachin Independence Army.

"Many jade mining companies do not follow rules and regulations on where or how to dump waste piles," Maw Htun Awng, a mining governance researcher, said after an accident last year that killed at least 15. "Then there are no actual mechanisms to watch if these companies are following these rules and that's why this is part of the cumulative impact."</s>More than 50 people were feared dead after a landslide in northern Myanmar engulfed jade miners while they were sleeping, local police said Tuesday, the latest deadly accident in a notoriously dangerous industry.

Dozens die each year in landslides caused by jade mining, a poorly regulated industry rife with corruption and sandwiched between the country's borders with China and India.

Local police described a freak accident in Kachin state on Monday night so big it created a huge "mud lake" that buried the miners as well as some 40 vehicles.

"Fifty-four people are missing in the mud," a duty officer from Hpakant township police station told AFP, asking not to be named.

"There's no way they (the missing) could have survived."

Only two bodies had been recovered so far.

The Ministry of Information confirmed the accident and number of missing, adding that the area was mined by Myanmar Thura Gems and Shwe Nagar Koe Kaung companies.

Myanmar Thura Gems director Hla Soe Oo told AFP by phone he was on his way to the site and had no further details.

Local media shared images, unverified by AFP, that showed the walls of a mine stretching vertically a couple of hundred meters above a vast pool of mud, revealing only the tops of two yellow excavation vehicles.

Hundreds of onlookers gathered nearby, staring at the site and taking photos with their phones.

The open jade mines in Kachin's Hpakant township have turned the remote area into a vast moonscape-like terrain.

Fatal landslides in the area are common with victims often from impoverished ethnic communities looking for scraps left behind by big firms.

A major collapse in November 2015 left more than 100 dead.

In July last year, the bodies of 23 landslide victims were recovered after a dayslong search hampered by heavy monsoon rains.

The jade industry is largely driven by insatiable demand from neighboring China, where the translucent green gemstone has long been prized.

Watchdog Global Witness estimated that the industry was worth some $31 billion in 2014, although very little reaches state coffers.

Northern Myanmar's abundant natural resources -- including jade, timber, gold and amber -- help finance both sides of a decadeslong civil war between ethnic Kachin insurgents and the military.

The fight to control the mines and the revenues they bring frequently traps local civilians in the middle.

A 17-year cease-fire broke down in 2011, and since then more than 100,000 people have been displaced by fighting -- some of them multiple times.

On coming to power in 2016, civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi promised to make the peace process with the country's myriad armed groups her top priority -- a pledge that has yet to yield significant results.</s>YANGON
• Recovery teams in Myanmar fought against a huge lake of sludge yesterday in their search for bodies after a mudslide engulfed more than 50 jade miners - the latest fatal accident in a notoriously dangerous but highly lucrative industry.

Dozens die each year in landslides caused by jade mining, a poorly regulated industry rife with corruption.

The latest disaster struck the jade mine in Hpakant township in northern Kachin state late on Monday night.

Police initially described how a "mud lake" buried 54 miners - all feared dead - while they were sleeping, although they said yesterday that the men had been working a night shift at the time.

By nightfall on Tuesday, only three bodies had been recovered, a police officer from Hpakant township, who asked not to be named, told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"Searching in the mud is difficult - it's not like soil," he added.

The site is mined by two companies: Myanmar Thura Gems and Shwe Nagar Koe Kaung.

Myanmar Thura Gems director Hla Soe Oo told AFP by phone that the company was "helping the families identify the victims' bodies".

The open jade mines in Hpakant township have turned the landscape into a vast moonscape-like terrain of barren hills and vast valleys of dirt scoured by companies for the precious gems.

Impoverished ethnic communities often scavenge the terrain for scraps left behind by the big firms - and are frequently the main victims of landslides.

But police said there were "no informal workers" on the site at the time of this mudslide.

Dozens were swept away by a landslide in Hpakant last year and at least 120 were buried in 2015 after the collapse of a mound of tailings, a mud-like waste by-product of mining.

The jade industry is largely driven by insatiable demand from neighbouring China, where the translucent green gemstone has long been prized.

Watchdog Global Witness estimated the industry was worth some US$31 billion (S$42.2 billion) in 2014, although very little reaches the state coffers.

Meanwhile in South Africa, 51 people were killed in the southern and eastern parts after heavy rain caused flooding and mudslides.

Rescue workers were digging through collapsed homes and other buildings in the coastal areas of KwaZulu-Natal province for survivors, local officials said yesterday.

The region has been hit by heavy rain for days, but the authorities did not anticipate the extent of the downpour late on Monday, said Mr Lennox Mabaso, a spokesman for the provincial Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs department.</s>NAY PYI TAW, Myanmar (AA) More than 50 people went missing after a landslide hit major jade mining area in the country’s northern Kachin state, an official said on Tuesday. The accident occurred near Maw Wun kalay village in Hpakant Township when a mud-filter pond, situated in an old mining site, collapsed last night at around 11.30 p.m. local time (1700GMT), said Kyaw Swa Aung, the township administer. As a result, a total of 54 staff from two private companies -- most of them were assigned to guard the nearby mining sites -- went missing, he said. “Three dead bodies have been recovered from the mud,” he said, adding search and rescue operation were still going on. At least 20 people have been killed this year by collapses and landslides at mining sites, according to Hpakant township office. Most of the victims were identified as internally-migrant workers who scavenge jade or pieces of the precious stones left over from company mining operations.

Hpakant area is the center of the country’s jade mining industry and produces some of the best-quality jade in the world.</s>MANDALAY, Myanmar — At least 54 jade miners in northern Myanmar were believed to be dead on Tuesday after a huge mound of tailings collapsed into an open-pit mine, burying workers and heavy equipment, officials said.

The disaster occurred late Monday night in the remote Hpakant area of Kachin State, where miners produce billions of dollars’ worth of jade each year under harsh working conditions.

Rescuers began searching for survivors after dawn on Tuesday, but officials said there was little chance that anyone would be found alive at the mine, which is about 100 feet deep and covers about five acres.

Three bodies were recovered by late afternoon, said Tin Soe, a member of Parliament who represents the area.</s>More than 50 people were feared dead Monday morning after a massive mudslide at a jade mining site in Myanmar.

The disaster struck near Maw Wun Kalay, a village in the gemstone-rich Hpakant area of Kachin state.

Some 54 workers from a pair of private mining companies were buried along with 40 machines and vehicles about 100 feet underground, according to local lawmaker Tin Soe.

INDONESIA GOLD MINE COLLAPSE LEAVES AT LEAST 4 DEAD, RESCUERS RACE AGAINST TIME TO SAVE DOZENS BURIED ALIVE

"They won’t survive. It is not possible because they are buried under mud,” Tin Soe told Reuters. "It is very difficult to retrieve the bodies."

He added that only three bodies had been recovered so far and more than 50 people remained missing.

Dozens of people die each year in landslides or collapses in the jade mining industry. More than 100 were killed in a major collapse in 2015.

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Hpakant produces some of the best-quality jade in the world, according to Al Jazeera. In 2014, Myanmar's jade business was worth up to $31 billion, almost half the country's gross domestic product, according to anti-corruption group Global Witness.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.</s>More than 50 people are feared dead in a landslide at a jade mining site in northern Myanmar, the latest disaster in a poorly regulated industry.

Three bodies have been recovered and 54 jade miners remain missing after a wall of debris came sliding down from a collapsed reservoir used to hold discarded mining waste late Monday night, a lawmaker from the Hpakant area of Kachin state said.

"They won't survive. It is not possible because they are buried under mud," said Tin Soe. "It is very difficult to retrieve the bodies."

The landslide also engulfed several dozen vehicles in the area mined by the companies Myanmar Thura Gems and Shwe Nagar Koe Kaung.

The Ministry of Information confirmed the accident and said rescue operations had been underway since Tuesday morning.

Hpakant, sandwiched between the Indian and Chinese borders, is a vast wasteland at the center of the world's biggest jade mining industry.

Dubbed the "wild wild east" for the prevalence of lawlessness, smuggling, alcohol, prostitution and drugs, the area attracts tens of thousands of migrant laborers hoping to scavenge scraps of jade left behind by big mining firms.

Read more: Little benefit for locals from Myanmar jade mines

Watchdog Global Witness estimates the green gemstones bring in $31 billion (€27.5 billion) annually, with most of the money going to individuals and companies tied to the military. Much of the jade is smuggled to markets in China.

Activists say the jade mining industry is loosely regulated, which contributes to environmental destruction and poor safety standards. Dozens of miners die each year in landslides.

Northern Myanmar is also embroiled in a decades-long armed conflict between the military and ethnic rebels from the Kachin Independence Army. Natural resources have helped finance and fuel the conflict.

Each evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here.</s>A lawmaker representing a gemstone-rich area in northern Myanmar says more than 50 people are believed to have died in a mudslide at a jade mining site.

Tin Soe said Tuesday that three bodies have been recovered and 54 people are missing. He said it would be difficult to recover the bodies from under the mud.

The accident occurred Monday in the Hpakant area of Kachin state. Such accidents are not rare and usually occur when mountainous piles of mining scraps slide down on people scavenging pieces of jade.

Tin Soe said in this case the victims worked for two mining companies, indicating they were formally employed rather than scavengers.
A mudslide at a jade mine in Hpakant, Kachin State, northern Myanmar caused by the collapse of a nearby lake kills three miners and leaves 51 missing.