Recovery efforts have been suspended after 32 bodies were retrieved from the site of a jade mine collapse in Kachin State’s Hpakant Township, according to locals.
“The recovery operation has been suspended due to the difficulty of removing the thick layer of mud,” jade miner U Maung Htwe said Thursday. “Earlier today, company officials and families held a collective funeral for the victims.”
The mudslide in Sapaut village in the Seikmu village tract 6 km south of Hpakant town submerged over 50 houses and tents of migrant workers, and the number of missing people could exceed 100.
It was triggered by the collapse of a tailings pond at around 1:00 a.m. on Jan. 13.
By the time the company and volunteers suspended their search, 32 bodies had been recovered, including five children and an elderly woman.
“I witnessed a father desperately trying to pull his daughter from the mud after she was killed by the landslide,” said a local who participated in the recovery efforts.
He added that mining companies in Hpakant can operate with impunity due to the lawless situation and ignore safety guidelines at will.
Another mining company is preparing to start operations in nearby Hpa Pyin village on the banks of the Uyu River.
“This company has been trying to secure a space for jade mining near the Uyu River since previous regimes, but its efforts were blocked by residents and religious associations,” a Hpakant resident said. “Now it seems it just decided to go ahead anyway.”

On Wednesday, Pope Francis issued an appeal for aid for those suffering from the aftermath of the landslide, according to Vatican News.
The pontiff mentioned the “casualties, missing persons, and significant damage” in closing remarks to pilgrims at his general audience in the Vatican.
Even as recovery efforts were underway, the junta launched airstrikes on mining plots in two other villages in Hpakant though no fighting was going on at ground level. They killed at least seven civilians.
Landslides have become frequent in Hpakant, the world’s jade hub, due to extensive mining operations and the lack of proper safety measures. Most of the victims are migrants from various other regions who work in the Hpakant mines.
A landslide in August 2023 killed at least 25 people and left 14 others missing, and a 2020 landslide claimed 170 lives.