Over 100 Dead in Myanmar Jade Mine Landslide as Operation to Rescue Trapped Workers Underway

According to the fire service department, the miners were collecting stones in a jade-rich area of Kachin, Myanmar's northernmost state, when the landslide buried them.

Over 100 people died on Thursday after a landslide at a jade mine in northern Myanmar, local authorities announced.

A total of 113 bodies have been found so far”, the Myanmar Fire Services Department said in a Facebook post. "The jade miners were smothered by a wave of mud. A search and rescue process is still ongoing", the Myanmar Fire Services Department said when earlier announcing that the bodies of at least 50 jade miners had been recovered from the mud.

#Myanmar 🇲🇲 Un énorme glissement de terrain a fait au moins 50 morts et 200 disparus dans des mines de jade du nord du pays, annoncent les pompiers.vidéo via @GautamGada1
pic.twitter.com/utB1DQzkpo

— AsieNews (@AsiaNews_FR) July 2, 2020

According to the local authorities, the tragedy was caused by heavy rain that had recently hit the area.

#Myanmar jade mine #landslide kills dozens pic.twitter.com/GdVOCeJMVR

— Sunny Dhingra (@iamsunnydhingra) July 2, 2020

​The exact number of casualties is yet to be announced.

RT bernamadotcom: [World] At least 50 killed in landslide, many feared missing in Myanmar's Kachin statehttps://t.co/m3X8DUHrbr pic.twitter.com/VNs4VeeJxe

— ahmadnizam (@bogajarola) July 2, 2020

The region has been the centre of the global jade industry for centuries and is the source of around 70% of the world's supply of high-quality jadeite.