Hundreds of jade pickers are missing after a landslide occurred in a Hpakant mine this morning. The incident is the second mass casualty accident...

Three years since the jade trade was revealed to be worth 31 billion dollars, questions still abound about what improvements have been made by Aung San Suu Kyi’s government to share these revenues.

A landslide at a jade mine in Kachin State’s Hpakant Township over the weekend has claimed at least 17 lives and injured dozens of others, with many more feared dead as search and rescue efforts continue.

A villager in Hpakant told DVB the death toll has risen to two as one of the patients at the hospital died.

The fatal incident occurred after a crowd of freelance miners gathered at the site entrance to protest the temporary closure of the mine by its contractors.

Sagaing divisional authorities are undertaking a four-step plan to prevent violent confrontations between licensed mining companies and so-called “freelance” jade scavengers at the Khamti jade mines after an altercation two days ago saw four scavengers shot dead by law enforcement personnel.