Two jade miners were killed in a landslide at the former mining sites of Sein Sein and Yadanar Power companies in Maw Si Sa area of Hpakant Township, Kachin State. The incident occurred at around 6:30 AM on July 21, when a waste soil dump approximately 200 feet high collapsed. The victims were among the small-scale miners who were searching for jade in the area when they were buried under the collapsed waste dump.
According to local rescue sources, one of the deceased was identified as Ko Min Zaw, aged 42. While initial reports suggested that many people might have been killed or gone missing, authorities have confirmed that only two deaths occurred in this incident with no additional missing persons. Rescue operations were conducted, and the bodies of both victims have been recovered from the site. The rescue source from Hpakant emphasized that contrary to some circulating rumors, there were no additional casualties or missing persons beyond the two confirmed deaths.
Hpakant is known as the world’s largest and highest-quality jade mining region. According to findings by the UK-based human rights organization Global Witness, approximately 400,000 people from across Myanmar work as jade miners in Hpakant under unsafe and insecure conditions. These types of landslides are frequent occurrences in the Hpakant area, resulting in numerous casualties each year. The dangerous conditions faced by these informal miners highlight the ongoing safety concerns in Myanmar’s jade mining industry, where workers often risk their lives in precarious conditions to make a living from the lucrative jade trade.
