on the 2nd of July, a landslide in Myanmar claimed 162 lives and left 50 plus injured.
The landslide happened in the Hpakant township of Kachin State, Myanmar due to heavy rains.
According to sources, people killed in a landslide were freelancers scavenging for jade mining company, Than Hlaing.
As many as 100 people are said to be missing and many are being evacuated from the muddy hill area.
A source present during the rescue operation said, “By 7:15 pm, 162 bodies were found, and 54 injured people were sent.”
Myanmar Fire Service’s Facebook post read, “The jade miners were smothered by a wave of mud, which hit after heavy rainfall.”
The accidents in muddy hills is a common issue in Myanmar mines.
In 2019, more than 50 workers were buried in a mudslide buried at a jade mine in Hpakant after a lake collapsed. In 2015, at least 113 people were killed in when a hill of tailings from a jade mine, also in Hpakant, collapsed onto the huts of sleeping workers.
The rescue team are still evacuating trapped people.
The officials of Myanmar said the death toll is expected to rise. Evacuation process is still underway.
Stay tuned for further updates.
