A landslide occurred at a rare earth mining site in Pang War town, Kachin State on Tuesday morning, killing at least seven people and leaving at least 10 missing, according to Kachin-based environmental activists and family members of the victims.
The landslide occurred at mining plot No. 3 on a mountain in Pang War, a town in Chipwi Township in the state’s remote northeast. It wiped out a large tent in which 17 to 24 miners were sleeping, that had been set up at the top of the mountain.
Sources said authorities and other responsible persons at the mining site have not yet been able to confirm the exact number of people still missing. They estimate that at least 10 to 17 individuals remain unaccounted for.
However, the relatives of the missing were not optimistic about their loved ones’ chances of survival, the sources said.
Recovering the bodies of those who perished is a challenging task due to the massive amount of earth covering them. Authorities have struggled to identify the seven bodies that have been found so far, explained a Kachin activist closely monitoring the aftermath of the landslide.
On Thursday, a Kachin-based media outlet reported that two Chinese citizens who owned the mining business were among those killed, but The Irrawaddy has not been able to independently verify the claim.
Ko Myo Min Soe, 25, is among the workers who are missing following the Pang War landslide. He is a resident of Hopin town, Mohnyin District, Kachin State and has been working at the rare earth mining plot in Pang War for over a year, according to his uncle.
“As the oldest child among four siblings, he played a significant role in supporting his family. His sudden disappearance is deeply distressing. His parents are now in Pang War, anxiously waiting for their son’s body to be recovered,” said U Maung Htwe, Ko Myo Min Soe’s uncle.
To operate the rare earth mines, businesspeople—mostly Chinese nationals—make deals with the junta’s military and the leaders of its allied militia groups in the Chipwi and Pang War areas.
On Thursday, an officer from the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) posted on his Facebook page that a landslide had occurred at a rare earth mining site in Pang War, resulting in the deaths of over 20 workers.
In Kachin State, the rare earth mining operations are centered on Myanmar military-controlled Chipwi Township, and in Mai Ja Yang town controlled by the KIA in Momauk Township in the state’s southeast.
During the rainy season from June to October, landslides pose a regular and deadly threat to the thousands of migrant workers who travel to Kachin to scrape precious metals and minerals from its hills.
In Kachin’s Special Region 1, mainly controlled by militias aligned with the junta’s military, the number of mining sites increased by more than 40 percent between 2021 and 2023, according to a recent report by Global Witness.
There are over 300 mining sites around the town of Pang War, Global Witness said last month, citing satellite imagery.
In its recent investigation, Global Witness found that much of Myanmar’s heavy rare earth output is used to manufacture permanent magnets, which are in demand from a range of US, European and Asian electric vehicle and wind turbine brands.
China remains the largest buyer of rare earths from Myanmar—its imports have more than doubled in the past two years. In 2021, China imported 19,500 tons (17,699 tonnes) of heavy rare earth oxides; in 2023 the amount reached 41,700 tonnes, according to the report.
