• Burmese
Saturday, May 24, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
32 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News Burma

Dozens Feared Dead after Another Landslide in Hpakant

Aung Hla Tun by Aung Hla Tun
December 26, 2015
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0 0
A A
Dozens Feared Dead after Another Landslide in Hpakant

Trucks are seen at a jade stone mine dump at a Hpakant jade mine in Kachin state

3k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Dozens of people were feared dead in Burma after a landslide hit a jade mining region, workers at a local mining firm said, the second such incident in just over a month.

The landslide took place on Friday in Hpakant in the country’s northern Kachin State, a rugged region sandwiched between China and India and the heart of Burma’s multi-billion dollar jade industry controlled by its powerful military.

“We heard about 50 people were buried in the collapsed dump and four or five bodies were found this morning,” Sai Lon, who works at a jade mining company in the area, told Reuters on Saturday.

RelatedPosts

Paranoid Junta Turns to Foreign Expertise After 4 Years of Chaos; and More

Paranoid Junta Turns to Foreign Expertise After 4 Years of Chaos; and More

May 10, 2025
1k
Seismic Shifts: A Timeline of Myanmar’s Deadliest Quake Disasters

Seismic Shifts: A Timeline of Myanmar’s Deadliest Quake Disasters

April 30, 2025
1.3k
Naypyitaw Parliament Crumbles as Myanmar Junta’s Grand Ambitions Collapse 

Naypyitaw Parliament Crumbles as Myanmar Junta’s Grand Ambitions Collapse 

April 24, 2025
1.3k

Police in Hpakant, in Mohnyin district, said the landslide took place on Friday afternoon but that they could not confirm casualties.

“We haven’t heard anything from the rescue team yet,” said a duty officer at Hpakant Township Police Station who declined to be named.

On Nov. 22, a massive landslide in the same mountainous area in Kachin State killed 114 people. The area produces some of the world’s highest-quality jade.

Deaths in Burma’s jade mines, where small time prospectors and massive firms vie for the precious stone, underscore the sector’s lax safety rules and lack of accountability.

Much of the jade mined in Hpakant is believed to be smuggled to neighboring China, where the green stone is highly prized and is widely believed to bring wealth and longevity.

About 800 jade mining firms operate around the town, but activity is dominated by about 10 firms, mostly Chinese-led ventures, according to the Ministry of Mines.

Miners have been tearing into Burma’s northern hills in recent months, in a rush to excavate more jade from the world’s richest deposits of the gemstone before a new government, which has promised clean governance, takes office next year.

The rush has led to thousands of ethnic villagers being forced off their land.

The newly elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party said last month it plans to tighten control over jade mines.

A US ban on Burmese jade remains in place over concerns that jade mining benefits military figures and fuels corruption and rights abuses, despite Washington easing most of its ban on imports from the country after a quasi-civilian government took power in 2011 following five decades of military dictatorship.

Your Thoughts …
Tags: DevelopmentDisaster
Aung Hla Tun

Aung Hla Tun

Reuters

Similar Picks:

It’s Time to Engage The Resistance Govt in Myanmar’s Rakhine
Guest Column

It’s Time to Engage The Resistance Govt in Myanmar’s Rakhine

by Mra Thida
March 29, 2024
2.8k

The junta’s loss of control over much of Myanmar’s westernmost state has made the United League of Arakan the most...

Read moreDetails
Plundering Paradise: China’s Role in Myanmar’s Environmental Crisis
Guest Column

Plundering Paradise: China’s Role in Myanmar’s Environmental Crisis

by Vaishali Basu Sharma
January 24, 2025
1.7k

China’s aggressive resource extraction in Myanmar is leaving a trail of environmental destruction and debt dependency in its wake, warns...

Read moreDetails
Burma

Thousands Displaced as Widespread Flooding Inundates Southern Myanmar 

by The Irrawaddy
October 9, 2023
1.5k

Blackouts and lack of rescue equipment delay emergency response, leaving children and elderly stranded in flooded homes.

Read moreDetails
Myanmar Power Shortage Leaves Millions at Mercy of Searing Summer
Features

Myanmar Power Shortage Leaves Millions at Mercy of Searing Summer

by Yuzana
May 8, 2023
6.8k

Electricity and water outages menace households and entrepreneurs as country slides further into chaos under military rule.    

Read moreDetails
Naypyitaw Parliament Crumbles as Myanmar Junta’s Grand Ambitions Collapse 
Burma

Naypyitaw Parliament Crumbles as Myanmar Junta’s Grand Ambitions Collapse 

by Lin Thurein Kyaw
April 24, 2025
1.3k

Built by regime cronies just two decades ago as a monument to military rule, the Parliament complex failed to withstand...

Read moreDetails
Is STEM-Based Higher Education Currently Out of Reach For Myanmar Refugees?
Guest Column

Is STEM-Based Higher Education Currently Out of Reach For Myanmar Refugees?

by Hope Akhtar and Dr. Sheraz Akhtar
July 30, 2024
1.3k

Refugee students are eager to pursue higher education focused on science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Expanding access to it will...

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
Suu Kyi Thanks Trishaw Drivers for Election Support in Rangoon

Suu Kyi Thanks Trishaw Drivers for Election Support in Rangoon

China Expels French Reporter Who Questioned Terrorism

China Expels French Reporter Who Questioned Terrorism

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

China’s Two-Faced Diplomacy in Myanmar

China’s Two-Faced Diplomacy in Myanmar

5 days ago
2.4k
‘Indian Troops Killed Myanmar Resistance Fighters to Send a Message’

‘Indian Troops Killed Myanmar Resistance Fighters to Send a Message’

2 days ago
2.1k

Most Read

  • Dead or Alive: Min Aung Hlaing’s Final Gamble

    Dead or Alive: Min Aung Hlaing’s Final Gamble

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Adidas Shoe Factory Agrees to Striking Workers’ Demands

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • ‘Indian Troops Killed Myanmar Resistance Fighters to Send a Message’

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • AA’s Political Wing Imposes Rakhine Travel Ban

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • What Are the Possible Scenarios for the Junta’s Election Plan?

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.