More than 100 jade hunters killed in landslide
at Myanmar
By Tim
Hume
November 24, 2015
At least 113 people were killed in northernMyanmar when a huge hill of
tailings from a jade mine collapsed onto the huts of sleeping workers,
according to state-run media.
Local officials estimate another 30 victims were "buried
under the soil."
The collapse of the roughly 60-meter-high (200-foot-high) mound
took place at about 3 a .m.
Saturday in Hpakant, in Myanmar
Seventy huts containing sleeping workers were buried in the slide,
with only five huts spared, according to the newspaper. The huts had been
situated in a ravine between two huge hills of dump soil, it reported.
The military was working with local residents in rescue and
recovery efforts, it reported Monday, warning that many more people remain
missing.
The area produces some of the world's highest quality jade, a
nearly translucent green stone that is highly valued in neighboring China
Many workers, typically migrants from other parts of the country,
eke out a livelihood in the shadow of the mines by sifting through the tailings
for leftover jade, the newspaper said.
Local authorities said they had earlier issued notices telling the
workers they could not stay on the site, according to the newspaper.
'Slush fund'
A report published
last month by environmental
advocacy group Global Witness estimated
the value of Myanmar's jade industry at as high as $31 billion last year -- 48%
of the country's GDP.
But it claimed the resource was being treated as a "slush
fund" by people connected to the country's former military leaders, and
drug lords.
Although
the value of the jade was about $21,000 a
year for each person in Kachin state, local people saw little of the revenue
from this valuable resource, the report said. On the contrary, the practices of
mining companies had created environmental hazards for locals, it said.
The
report said there had been a series of fatal accidents in recent months arising
from the common mining company practices of "dumping huge quantities of
waste into lakes and streams or in massive mounds which are prone to
collapse."
"Untrammeled
jade exploitation has turned Hpakant into a moonscape, with mining bringing
down 'jade mountains,' leaving behind water-filled craters and causing
widespread flooding and pollution," the report said.
Prostitution
and drug use are rife among the mining communities, the report said. Community
leaders in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin state, told CNN in March that the region was battling a major heroin epidemic, with
many young people using the drug.
Structure of the Lead:
WHO- jade hunters
WHEN- November 24, 2015
WHAT- more than 100 jade hunters killed in landslide
WHY- dumping huge quantities of
waste into lakes and streams or in massive mounds which are prone to collapse.
WHERE- Myanmar
HOW- Myanmar's government has
been fighting on
Keywords:
1. ravine:深谷
2. translucent: 半透明的
3. eke out: 免強維持
4. advocacy: 擁護
5. slush fund: 行賄基金
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