  Hpakant jade mine Hpakant jade mine (Myanmar) | |
| Date | 21 November 2015 |
|---|---|
| Location | Hpakant, Kachin State, Myanmar |
| Deaths | 116 |
| Non-fatal injuries | N/A |
| Missing | 100 |
On 21 November 2015, a major landslide in Hpakant, Kachin State, northern Myanmar killed at least 116 people near a jade mine, with around 100 more missing. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
The landslide occurred in the early morning hours, when a man-made heap of waste soil from the nearby jade mine collapsed. Many of those killed were people living in a small village near the waste heap, including both miners and those who scavenged through the waste soil looking for jade remnants to sell. The cause of the collapse is not known. [1] [6]
Rescue efforts by the Myanmar Red Cross and other groups were made to find and recover survivors; one person was pulled from the rubble alive, but subsequently died from injuries. [1] At least 116 bodies were reported as having been recovered. [2] Around a hundred people were reported as missing. The total number of casualties cannot be accurately estimated, as the precise number of people who lived near the site is not known. [1] [2] According to a Hpakant Township General Administration Department official, people had been warned to avoid living near the waste heap because of its potential for landslides. [7]
The jade industry in Myanmar generates estimated annual revenues of US$31 billion. [6] It is presently unclear which companies are responsible for the waste dump, although it is known that prior to the 2015 democratic election, many of these were controlled by the military leadership of the country, leading to questionable safety practices and corruption. [6] Deaths from similar landslides are common, but none have matched the scale of the Hpakant landslide. [6] A spokesman for the National League for Democracy party said they will investigate the companies and the practices that led to this disaster. [6]
Kachin State is the northernmost state of Myanmar. It is bordered by China to the north and east, Shan State to the south, and Sagaing Region and India to the west. It lies between north latitude 23° 27' and 28° 25' longitude 96° 0' and 98° 44'. The area of Kachin State is 89,041 km2 (34,379 sq mi). The capital of the state is Myitkyina. Other important towns include Bhamo, Mohnyin and Putao.
A mining accident is an accident that occurs during the process of mining minerals or metals. Thousands of miners die from mining accidents each year, especially from underground coal mining, although accidents also occur in hard rock mining. Coal mining is considered much more hazardous than hard rock mining due to flat-lying rock strata, generally incompetent rock, the presence of methane gas, and coal dust. Most of the deaths these days occur in developing countries, and rural parts of developed countries where safety measures are not practiced as fully. A mining disaster is an incident where there are five or more fatalities.
A spoil tip is a pile built of accumulated spoil – waste material removed during mining. Spoil tips are not formed of slag, but in some areas, such as England and Wales, they are referred to as slag heaps. In Scotland the word bing is used. In North American English the term is mine dump or mine waste dump.
Hpakant is a town in Hpakant Township, Kachin State in the northernmost part of Myanmar (Burma). It is located on the Uyu River 350 km north of Mandalay. It is famous for its jade mines which produce the world's best quality jadeite.
The Uyu River, also pronounced Uru River, is a river in northern Myanmar, formerly Burma. It is a major tributary of the Chindwin River, itself the largest tributary of the country's chief river, the Ayeyarwady. Its source lies in the Hukawng Valley of Kachin State, and it takes a southwesterly course through a fertile and well irrigated valley. It enters the Chindwin on the left bank at Homalin in Sagaing Division.
The Kachin conflict or the Kachin War is one of the multiple conflicts which are collectively referred to as the internal conflict in Myanmar. Kachin insurgents have been fighting against the Tatmadaw since 1961, with only one major ceasefire being brokered between them, which lasted from 1994 to 2011, a total of 17 years.
The jade trade in Myanmar consists of the mining, distribution, and manufacture of jadeite—a variety of jade—in the nation of Myanmar (Burma). The jadeite deposits found in Myanmar's northern regions are the source of the highest quality jadeite in the world, noted by sources in China going as far back as the 10th century. Chinese culture places significant weight on the meaning of jade; as their influence has grown in Myanmar, so has the jade industry and the practice of exporting the precious mineral.
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On 22 April 2019, a landslide triggered the collapse of a jade mine near Maw Wun Kalay, Hpakant, Kachin State, Myanmar, trapping at least 54 miners. The deaths of four miners were confirmed, along with the later deaths of two rescue workers. The remaining miners are presumed to be dead.
Events of 2020 in Myanmar.
On 2 July 2020, a major landslide at the Wai Khar jade mining site in the Hpakant area of Kachin State, Myanmar, killed between 175 and 200 miners in the country's deadliest-ever mining accident. At 06:30 local time (MMT) heavy rains triggered the collapse of a heap of mining waste, which came tumbling down into a lake. This generated a 6.1-meter (20 ft) wave of mud and water that buried those working at the Wai Khar mine. The miners killed or injured by the landslide were independent "jade pickers", who scavenge tailings from larger operators and who live in ramshackle quarters at the base of large mounds of rubble.
2021 (MMXXI) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2021st year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 21st year of the 3rd millennium and the 21st century, and the 2nd year of the 2020s decade.
In the early morning of July 28, 2019, a landslide in a Hpakant jade mine killed at least 17 people, leaving others missing and two injured. The people killed were workers from Yarzahtarni Jade Mining Company, local police, and others unaffiliated with the mine.
On December 22, 2021, a landslide occurred at a jade mine in the township of Hpakant in Kachin State, Myanmar. The landslide killed at least three people, and left at least 70 to 100 missing.
This is the list of important events happened in Myanmar in 2023.
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City of Jade is a 2016 documentary film directed by Chinese-Burmese director Midi Z. The film won the Best Original Film Score at the 53rd Golden Horse Awards.