In a Facebook post the Myanmar Fire Services Department said 126 bodies have so far been recovered from the site. The death toll is likely to go up as further details emerge.
The landslide occurred after heavy rainfall in the area. The place is about 950 kilometers north of Myanmar’s biggest city Yangon. The Hpakant jade mining sites is the world’s biggest Jade mining centre.
Many such landslides take place in the Jade mining areas where large mounds of discarded earth known as ‘tailing’ are accumulated after the jade has been mined by heavy machinery. People scavenge for scraps of jade around the mining area.
After heavy rain, the huge piles often cave in creating a huge wave on the pond downside created by the mining leading to deaths of the people.