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100 People Killed, Many Missing Following Mine collapse

At least 100 people have been killed after a landslide at a jade mine that collapsed in Myanmar left workers trapped under a mound of refuse.

The miners were collecting stones in the jade-rich Hpakant area of Kachin state, in the north of the country, when a wave of mud caused by heavy rain buried them early on Thursday morning.

“Other bodies are in the mud. The numbers are going to rise,” a local official told the Reuters news agency.

Accidents – including deadly landslides – are common in the poorly regulated mines of Hpakant.

Maung Khaing, a 38-year-old miner who witnessed the accident, said he spotted a towering pile of waste that looked on the verge of collapse – then heard people shouting ‘run, run!’

Scores of people have been killed in the area over recent years, many of them freelance “jade pickers” who scour tailings – the residue from mining – for stones that have been missed by larger operators.

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