A man was killed by a collapsing slag heap on October 15 as he was scavenging for jade remnants at a mine in Hpakant Township in northern Myanmar’s Kachin State.

The accident took place near Kahtayan and Syut Aung villages in Hpakant Township. The man was a 29 years old U Shay Gyi, haling from Phyusin Kone in Hmawsisar village. Three men including the now deceased were looking for the discarded jade stones in the evening. The other two managed to escape but Shay Gyi was buried where he stood when the heap collapsed upon him. An immediate rescue was attempted, getting as far as Shay Gyi’s head to surface but another collapse took place. He died from the second one. His body was unable to be recovered till October 16 evening.

“We manged to unearth his body with the assitance of 3 backhoes but the area where the landslide had occurred was filled with water. It is a very dangerous place for people to be scavenging for jade at this place” said Thein Zaw, the head of  Hmawsisar village.

On July 24th, a landslide occurred in Myanmar Takaung old jade mining site in Maopyin village and lower Maelinchaung mining site in Seikmu village tract leaving 27 dead. 

On July 14, a landslide occurred in old Maha jade mining site near Sankhar village where 24 were dead, 4 were missing and 63 were wounded. 

On June 22, heavy rain in Hpakant caused a landslide and 14 were dead while 4 were missing and 160 households were affected. In 2018 till date, at least over 130 people dead due to landslide according to data collected by social organizations.

About 300,000 migrant workers search amid dangerous mountains of rubble and tailings in jade mines for pieces of the valuable gemstone left behind in mining operations.

Hpakant, which lies about 400 miles (640 kilometers) north of Myanmar’s capital Nay Pyi Daw, is the center of the country’s jade mining industry and produces some of the highest-quality jade in the world.