A landslide of mining waste killed at least six people in the sixth deadly such accident in northern Myanmar's jade mining region since a November disaster left more than 100 dead.
Hpakant Baptist Church deacon Dut La, who is organizing funerals for the victims, said six bodies were in the morgue but more than a dozen may still lie under the waste from the slide that occurred Monday afternoon in Kachin state's Hpakant mining region.
"We are going to bury them today. Some family members showed up but some didn't and we cannot wait for them anymore," Dut La said Wednesday. "There are a dozen more possibly buried under the debris but it's quite difficult to take the bodies out because it's too dangerous."
Hpakant, 950 kilometers (600 miles) northeast of Myanmar's biggest city, Yangon, is the epicenter of the lucrative jade mining industry. Jade is mined with heavy equipment that leaves behind small pieces in the waste soil that is piled into huge mounds. At risk when landslides occur are usually people who settle near the mounds to scavenge through precariously high piles. (Courtesy of ABC News)
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