The bodies of jade scavengers who were killed in a landslide are covered in plastic and lined up at a hospital morgue Friday, May 4, 2018, in Hpakant, Kachine state in northern Myanmar. Hpakant is the epicenter of the world's best and lucrative jade mining industry that generated about $31 billion in 2015. (AP Photo)

The bodies of jade scavengers who were killed in a landslide are covered in plastic and lined up at a hospital morgue Friday, May 4, 2018, in Hpakant, Kachine state in northern Myanmar. Hpakant is the epicenter of the world's best and lucrative jade mining industry that generated about $31 billion in 2015. (AP Photo)

BANGKOK (AP) — A landslide of a mound of mining waste killed at least 14 people Friday morning in northern Myanmar’s jade mining region, a local official said.

The accident near the Waikha mine also left six people injured and an unknown number believed missing, based on what local villagers reported, said Tu Mai, the administrator of Seng Tawng village in Kachin state’s Hpakant township. A search for them was continuing.

Hpakant, 950 kilometers (600 miles) north of Myanmar’s biggest city, Yangon, is the epicenter of the world’s biggest and most lucrative jade mining industry. Jade is normally mined by heavy equipment that generates huge mounds of waste soil, which easily causes landslides.

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, according to Global Witness, a London-based group that investigate misuse of revenues from natural resources.

People often settle near the mounds to scavenge for jade in the precariously high piles of waste. Fatal accidents are not rare and more than 100 people were killed in a single landslide in November 2015.

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

“The government’s plans to tackle the problem in the jade mining region are not practical,” said Tsa Ji, a researcher and member of a local activist organization, the Kachin Development Networking Group. “The authorities have passed the laws without really understanding how the mining companies are destroying the environment on a large scale.”

Hpakant, the heart of the jade mining region, is also enmeshed in the armed conflict between the government and the ethnic rebels of the Kachin Independence Army, in which the military has been launching offensives against local armed groups to control territory holding the jade mines.

Researchers said the civilian government led by leader Aung San Suu Kyi has done little or nothing to find a practical solution to the problems, which include environment degradation as well as safety.

“Many jade mining companies do not follow rules and regulations on where or how to dump waste pile,” said Maw Htun Awng, a mining governance researcher. “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 impacts.”</s>BANGKOK: A landslide of a mound of mining waste has killed at least 14 people in northern Myanmar's jade mining region.

An official in Kachin state's Hpakant township says the accident also left six people injured and an unknown number believed missing.

Hpakant, 950 kilometers (600 miles) north of Myanmar's biggest city, Yangon, is the epicenter of the world's biggest and most lucrative jade mining industry.

Jade is normally mined by heavy equipment that generates huge mounds of waste soil, which easily causes landslides.

People often settle near the mounds to scavenge for jade in the precariously high piles of waste.

Fatal accidents are not rare and more than 100 people were killed in a single landslide in November 2015.</s>BANGKOK >> A landslide of a mound of mining waste killed at least 14 people Friday morning in northern Myanmar’s jade mining region, a local official said.

The accident near the Waikha mine also left six people injured and an unknown number believed missing, based on what local villagers reported, said Tu Mai, the administrator of Seng Tawng village in Kachin state’s Hpakant township. A search for them was continuing.

Hpakant, 600 miles north of Myanmar’s biggest city, Yangon, is the epicenter of the world’s biggest and most lucrative jade mining industry. Jade is normally mined by heavy equipment that generates huge mounds of waste soil, which easily causes landslides.

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, according to Global Witness, a London-based group that investigate misuse of revenues from natural resources.

People often settle near the mounds to scavenge for jade in the precariously high piles of waste. Fatal accidents are not rare and more than 100 people were killed in a single landslide in November 2015.

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

“The government’s plans to tackle the problem in the jade mining region are not practical,” said Tsa Ji, a researcher and member of a local activist organization, the Kachin Development Networking Group. “The authorities have passed the laws without really understanding how the mining companies are destroying the environment on a large scale.”

Hpakant, the heart of the jade mining region, is also enmeshed in the armed conflict between the government and the ethnic rebels of the Kachin Independence Army, in which the military has been launching offensives against local armed groups to control territory holding the jade mines.

Researchers said the civilian government led by leader Aung San Suu Kyi has done little or nothing to find a practical solution to the problems, which include environment degradation as well as safety.

“Many jade mining companies do not follow rules and regulations on where or how to dump waste pile,” said Maw Htun Awng, a mining governance researcher. “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 impacts.”</s>YANGON: A jade mine slag heap collapsed in northern Myanmar on Friday (May 4), killing at 17 people, rescue officials said, the latest in a series of disasters to hit the largely unregulated gem industry.

Myanmar is a major gemstone producer and the civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi pledged to tighten controls after a landslide in a jade mine killed more than 100 people in 2015 in Kachin state, the site of Friday's collapse.

Friday's accident happened in the early morning in the village of Wai Hka, when workers were scavenging through heaps of mining debris for discarded jade.

"I barely escaped ... The soil bulk collapsed and killed people," said miner Min Naung, 30.

Many jade mines are owned by companies linked to leaders of the previous military government, ethnic armies and Chinese firms. Workers, many of them migrants from elsewhere in Myanmar, toil long hours in dangerous conditions and for little pay.

"To safeguard people's lives and to reduce the risk of landslides, companies should follow the mining law while digging," said Chit Kaung, administrator of Wai Hka, where most of its 50,000 population work in mines.

Environmental advocacy group Global Witness put the value of jade production in Myanmar at around US$31 billion in 2014. Experts say the majority of stones are smuggled to China.

Fighting between government forces and an ethnic armed group in Kachin has displaced more than 5,000 people since early April, the United Nations says.</s>A landslide at a jade mine in northern Myanmar has killed 17 people, local authorities said Friday, the latest disaster to hit the murky multi-billion dollar industry.

Myanmar is the world's top producer of the near-translucent green gem in trade fueled by demand from neighbouring China.

But the poorly regulated industry is notorious for its links to cronies from Myanmar's former junta and for the dangers it poses to those who scrabble across a moonscape of environmental destruction hoping to strike it rich.

The accident early Friday occurred in a mining compound near Wak Khar village in Kachin State's Hpakant township, the epicentre of the perilous work.

"A wall of rock fell after people tried to dig for jade under it," local administrative officer Nilar Myint told AFP.

"We have now found 17 dead bodies and we have sent nine survivors to hospital," she added.

A second source involved in the rescue and recovery process confirmed the death toll.

A number of deadly landslides has struck the area around Hpakant in recent years, with one major incident in November 2015 leaving more than 100 dead.

Several other smaller accidents have killed or injured scores more.

The victims are often itinerant workers or impoverished local residents who see little profit from the industry and are left to scour the mining areas for pieces of jade left behind by giant industrial diggers.

The NGO Global Witness said the industry was worth some $31 billion in 2014 alone, with much of the funds not reaching state coffers.

Myanmar's northernmost state of Kachin is rich in resources but a source of long running conflict, which intensified in 2011 after a ceasefire between ethnic insurgents and the government broke down.

Thousands of people have fled their home in recent weeks after a renewed bout of clashes, according to the United Nations.</s>A landslide at a jade mine in northern Myanmar has killed 17 people, local authorities said Friday, the latest disaster to hit the murky multi-billion dollar industry.

 Myanmar is the world’s top producer of the near-translucent green gem in trade fueled by demand from neighboring China.

 But the poorly regulated industry is notorious for its links to cronies from Myanmar’s former junta and for the dangers it poses to those who scrabble across a moonscape of environmental destruction hoping to strike it rich.

 The accident early Friday occurred in a mining compound near Wak Khar village in Kachin State’s Hpakant township, the epicenter of the perilous work.

 “A wall of rock fell after people tried to dig for jade under it,” local administrative officer Nilar Myint told AFP.

 “We have now found 17 dead bodies and we have sent nine survivors to hospital,” she added. A second source involved in the rescue and recovery process confirmed the death toll.

 A number of deadly landslides has struck the area around Hpakant in recent years, with one major incident in November 2015 leaving more than 100 dead. Several other smaller accidents have killed or injured scores more.—Agencies</s>Hanoi (VNA) - At least 12 people were killed and eight others injured due to a landslide in Hpakant mining region in Myanmar's northern Kachin state on May 4, according to a press release from the country's information ministry.

 

 The landslide occurred due to a collapse of 60.9-metre high spoil tip near a mining worksite in Hway Khar village in the region at 04:30 (local time).

 

 The injured were brought to the nearby Hpakant General Hospital for treatment.

 

 Rescue operations and investigation into the accident are being carried out by the authorities.

 

 Myanmar is the world's top producer of the near-translucent green gem in trade fueled by demand from neighbouring China. However, the loose management has led to the weak observance of regulations on labour safety and environmental protection.

 

 Earlier, on April 13, one people were killed in a landslide near a jade mine in the same village due to the collapse of spoil and stone tip from a 3.04-metre height.-VNA</s>Yangon, May 5 (IANS) Five more people were killed in Friday’s landslide in Myanmar’s northern Kachin state, taking the death toll to 17, the Home Affairs Ministry said on Saturday.

At least 11 people were injured in the landslide that occured in Hpakant mining region, Xinhua news agency reported.

The 60.9-metre-high spoil tip collapsed near a worksite owned by Kyauk Myat Shwe Pyi Company in Hway Khar village before dawn.</s>The Myanmar army which has been in the limelight for atrocities against Rohingya Muslims is now targeting Kachin people in the country's north.

Clashes between rebels and the army initially broke out in 2011 in Kachin State after 17 years of cease-fire. The violence in Myanmar is escalating, paving way for a new crisis and a possible ethnic cleansing wave.

According to the UN, more than 5,000 civilians were displaced from villages near the Chinese border in the last three weeks as a result of clashes between the Myanmar army and Kachin Independence Army (KIA).

The displaced Kachins are mostly piled up at the China border while more than 2,000 are stranded in the forests.

A food convoy of the Myanmar Red Cross was reportedly prevented from entering a Kachin village last week, said the UN.

Kachin Alliance president Gum San Nsang told Anadolu Agency the community was promised the right to self-determination and an autonomous state.

He said after independence the state managed its own affairs with minimum involvement by the central government.</s>At least 11 people were injured in the landslide that occurred in Hpakant mining region, Xinhua news agency reported

Five more people were killed in Friday's landslide in Myanmar's northern Kachin state, taking the death toll to 17, the Home Affairs Ministry said on Saturday. At least 11 people were injured in the landslide that occurred in Hpakant mining region, Xinhua news agency reported.

The 60.9-metre-high spoil tip collapsed near a worksite owned by Kyauk Myat Shwe Pyi Company in Hway Khar village before dawn.

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A heap of mining waste collapses at a jade mine in Kachin State, Myanmar, causing a landslide that kills at least 17 people. Six people are also left injured and an unknown number of people are missing.