Seven male employees of a jade mining company died when a landfill collapsed on the morning of July 3.
Residents say that 13 miners and company employees died and at least five are missing in a landslide at a jade mine in Hpakant, Kachin State, in the week from June 27 to July 3.
A resident of Seikmu village, who asked not to be named, told RFA that seven male employees of a jade mining company were killed when a landslide occurred in Seikmu village tract this morning (July 3).
“We found all the workers who were trapped in the landslide this evening. They all died of suffocation due to the landslide and the mud. I heard that some people had to be pulled out. And on the 27th, there were only six bodies in the landslide. They said that five more could not be found. It must have been very difficult to search because of the heavy rains and floods that day.”
On June 27 , a former abandoned landfill in Nam Maw village suddenly collapsed due to heavy rain, killing six people who were searching for unwashed stones, and five are still missing, he said.
RFA contacted Kachin State's military spokesman, Minister of Social Affairs U Kyaw Min Khaing, by telephone regarding the landslides, but he did not answer.
Locals say that fighting has calmed down in the Hpakant Township neighborhoods due to continuous rain and flooding since the first week of June.
According to statistics compiled by RFA, from 2018 to 2026, at least 25 landslides have occurred in Hpakant Township, resulting in up to 920 deaths.
