Very little chance of survival

Dozens of jade miners who remain missing yesterday following a landslide in Myanmar's Kachin State have "very little chance of survival", according to a fire department official.

Rescuers pulled three bodies from the nearby lake in Hpakant township near the Chinese border yesterday, adding to the one found the previous day.

"It is so difficult to estimate how many were missing, but we estimate at least 50 missing and they have very little chance of survival," said Pyae Nyein, captain of Hpakant Township's fire department, told Reuters news agency.

A landslide of dirt and rubble ripped down the waste heap of Hpakant on Wednesday, burying workers under the debris. Hpakant is the centre of the country's secretive jade industry, which draws poor workers from across the country in search of gems mostly for export to China.

Initial reports said that between 70 and 100 people were missing, but the number was later reduced to at least 50.

Rescuers called off the second day's search due to fading light, said Ko Jack of the Myanmar Rescue Organisation.

They would be back at the lake for a third and final day today, he added, after which his team would only come and retrieve the bodies "if they appear on the water".

Hundreds of diggers came to Hpakant during the rainy season to prospect in the treacherous open-cast mines despite a junta ban on digging until March 2022, according to a local activist.

Determining how many people were working when the disaster struck would be difficult, rescuers said, with families hesitant to admit their relatives were there and survivors unwilling to come forward.

Rescuers said increased pressure from the weight of dumped soil and rock had pushed the ground downhill into the nearby lake, reports AFP.

The incident is the latest tragedy to hit the poorly regulated multi-billion-dollar industry.