According to an article in the Associated Press, a landslide buried more than 100 jade minders in the Township of Hpakant, Kachin State, the center of an industry notorious for the death and suffering of its workers. On the morning of July 2nd, heavy rains caused a massive wave of mud and debris that swallowed up scores of people scavenging for jade pieces among the rubble left behind by a large-scale mining operation. At the time of writing, the Fire Service Department has put the death toll at 162.

Myanmar is the world’s foremost exporter of jade, half of which it sells to China. However, the multi-billion dollar industry has become a symbol of worker abuse, corruption, and cronyism. Although the latest incident is one of the worst ever, Hpakant is notorious for deadly mining disasters. In last year alone, one landslide left 14 dead, and another killed more than 50. Most of those killed are independent scavengers, and not entitled to protections nor compensation for their families. However, the industry has faced widespread allegations of tolerating the supply of addictive narcotics to its employees to help them work longer hours. Furthermore, much of the industry is in the hands of former crony capitalists under the military regime. Only last month, Sweden-based watchdog NGO Swedwatch singled out Caterpillar Inc, Komatsu Ltd and Volvo Construction Equipment for supplying equipment and machinery to the jade companies (see related article), which “still appear to lack adequate safeguards in their sales, two years after Swedwatch highlighted alarming environmental and human rights impacts of irresponsible jade mining in Myanmar,” the group said.