Authorities have stopped the search for those missing in an old jade mine landslide that occurred in Tharyargon Village, Lonekhin Village-tract, Hpakant Township, Kachin State in the early hours of December 22, according to members of the search and rescue team. 

The search stopped on December 26, they said.

Till December 24, six bodies on the list of nine missing people were discovered. The search stopped after no more could be found although the team continued its search till December 25 by wearing scuba wetsuits, said U Thein Zaw Win, administrator of Hmawsisar Village.   

“We ended our search on December 25. A social aid organization also helped us in searching. They were searching by wearing scuba wetsuits. Only six missing people were retrieved. They were the men from Yinmabin, Salingyi, Minkin, Pale and Kyaukte. The search was difficult because we didn’t get a precise list of missing people. Witnesses said there were around 20 or 50,” he added. 

Rescuers said drowned people could be floated three days after in summer and four or five days after in winter.

“I have dived in Hpakant for three times. The water is as deep as 30 to 60 feet. As the water is so cold, seven of us had to dive in turn. We only got mattocks. With the thick mire, the water became muddy as soon as we touched it. If they were drowned, they should have been floated today because five days have passed. But they could not be floated if they were stuck in the mire,” said one rescuer, Ko Jet.

On December 19 also, a landslide occurred at an old jade mine near Hsaijabon Village in Hpakant. Six people went missing, and three bodies were discovered on December 22.

Currently, the authorities have suspended companies’ jade mining in the region. However, jade mining is still going on at night with the use of heavy machinery in potential sites, local people say.