Five children among 32 killed in Hpakant jade mining mudslide

The edges of a muddy reservoir formed by mining activity in Myanmar’s jade mining hub in Kachin State collapsed on Monday, causing a massive displacement of mud that killed at least 32 people including children, local sources said. The incident occurred around 1:30am at a mining site operated by the Yadanar Adipadi Company near Sa Paut village, Hpakant Township. The reservoir was being used as a dump site for mining waste. The collapse buried Ward 3 of Sa Paut in mud, submerging about 50 homes and causing dozens of deaths. Administrative officials connected to the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) and humanitarian groups conducted search and rescue operations, recovering 12 bodies on the day of the collapse, including four of the children. Rescue workers had found 31 bodies in the village by Wednesday afternoon, at which time another village resident had died at a hospital, bringing the death toll to 32. The deceased include five children between two and nine years old, along with 27 men and women. In addition to the confirmed deaths, an unknown number of villagers are missing from Sa Paut, and it is unclear whether rescue workers will make further attempts to find them after having suspended operations. “We can say the search operation is finished now as the rescue workers have returned. The road that was first covered in mud is clear again now, so that area has been searched, including inside the houses,” a local resident said. A body of a child being excavated on January 15 from the mud lake collapsed (Photo - Tarlin Mg) It is possible that some people are still trapped in the mud, said the local man, citing accounts from villagers in Sa Paut. According to Colonel Naw Bu, a spokesperson for the KIO and its armed wing, the muddy conditions have made rescue operations extremely difficult, and it is doubtful that rescue operations will continue. “Since the mud is neither water nor solid ground, we have to use machinery to scoop it up and remove it, which creates many difficulties,” Col. Naw Bu said. He added that due to problems with phone connectivity, it was not possible to confirm the status of the rescue operations or lists of deceased and missing people in real time. The road that was submerged in mud following the collapse has now been reopened for vehicles, according to locals. The massive pits created by mining companies’ machinery often collect water when it rains, forming large pools that turn into “mud lakes” when mining waste is dumped into them. The edges of these mud lakes often collapse, leading to disastrous mudslides that cause dozens of deaths at mining sites in the average year. Since March of 2024, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA)—the KIO’s armed wing—and its allies have waged an offensive campaign targeting junta troops across most of Kachin State’s townships. The KIA has captured 14 towns in Kachin and northern Shan states and controls most of the territory in Hpakant Township. On the same day as the mud lake collapse, the military regime’s air force bombed areas near Hpakant, killing at least eight people. Photos posted by humanitarian aid groups on Facebook on Wednesday showed some of the victims’ bodies being cremated. Some of the victims’ bodies being cremated on January 15 (Photo - Hmaw Min Thar Charity Group)

Five children among 32 killed in Hpakant jade mining mudslide

The collapse of a mud lake at a mining site in Hpakant Township, Kachin State submerged a nearby village in mud, causing at least 32 deaths

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