YANGON: The bodies of 23 victims of a landslide in Myanmar’s northern jade mining area have been recovered, an official confirmed Monday, after a days-long search hampered by heavy monsoon rains.
Rescuers are still looking for a further four victims, many of whom belong to the small ethnic Rawang minority in the remote area of Kachin state, the heart of the country’s notoriously shadowy multibillion-dollar jade industry.
“We found 23 dead bodies by yesterday (Sunday) evening and we will try to find the remaining four if the weather is good today,” an official from Hpakant’s local government said, requesting anonymity as he is not authorized to speak to the media.
Landslides have killed dozens this year around the treacherous jade mines where impoverished locals comb deep gouges in the ground for pieces of the semi-precious gemstone.
This latest disaster in Set Mu sub-township hit the small Rawang ethnic group particularly hard.
The mainly-Christian community number only about 70,000 people and are one of Myanmar’s smallest ethnicities.
“Funerals have been held by their respective families. This time our local villages have really been hurt badly,” said Shwe Thein, a local resident helping with recovery operations.
Much of the world’s top-quality jade comes from Kachin state but most is smuggled over the border to feed the insatiable demand in China.
It is big business for those at the top - watchdog Global Witness estimated that the sector in 2014 was worth some $31 billion.
The lack of regulations and poor oversight, however, mean that little of the profits end up in state coffers.
Kachin’s abundant natural resources help fund both sides of a decades-long conflict between ethnic rebels and the military as they battle over control of the mines and the income they bring.
More than 100,000 civilians have been forced to flee their homes - many multiple times - since a 17-year ceasefire broke down in 2011.
Bodies of 23 Myanmar landslide victims found
Bodies of 23 Myanmar landslide victims found
- Rescuers are still looking for a further four victims, many of whom belong to the small ethnic Rawang minority in the remote area of Kachin state
- Landslides have killed dozens this year around the treacherous jade mines
26 Doctors without Borders workers remain unaccounted for in South Sudan a month after attacks
- A hospital in the town of Lankien was bombed by government forces, MSF said
- “We have lost contact with them amid ongoing insecurity”
NAIROBI: More than two dozen Doctors Without Borders workers remain unaccounted for a month after attacks in South Sudan, the medical charity said.
Two facilities belonging to the group, known by French acronym MSF, were attacked on Feb. 3 in Jonglei State, northeast of the capital, Juba, where violence has displaced an estimated 280,000 people since December.
A hospital in the town of Lankien was bombed by government forces, MSF said, while another medical facility in the town of Pieri was raided by “unknown assailants.” Both were located in opposition-held areas.
Staff working at the two facilities fled alongside much of the local population into deeply rural areas where armed clashes and aerial bombardments were ongoing.
MSF said in a statement on Monday that “26 of 291 of our colleagues working in Lankien and Pieri remain unaccounted for.
“We have lost contact with them amid ongoing insecurity,” it said.
The lack of communication with its staff could be linked to the limited network connectivity in much of the state. Staff members who had been contacted described “destruction, violence and extreme hardships.”
Fighting escalated sharply in December, when opposition forces captured a string of government outposts in north central Jonglei. In January, the government responded with a counteroffensive that recaptured most of the area it had lost.
Displaced people in Akobo, an opposition-held town near the Ethiopian border, described horrific violence by government fighters. Many described not being able to find food or water as they walked for days to reach safety.
The attacks on MSF facilities in Lankien and Pieri are part of an uptick in violence on humanitarian staff, supplies and infrastructure, aid groups say. MSF facilities have been attacked 10 times in the last 12 months.
“This violence has taken an unbearable toll not only on health care services, but on the very people who kept them running,” said Yashovardhan, MSF head of mission in South Sudan, who only uses one name.
“Medical workers must never be targets,” he said. “We are deeply concerned about what has happened to our colleagues and the communities we serve.”
