At least four people were killed and 20 people remained trapped on Friday after a landslide at a jade mine near Lone Khin village, around 15 km north of Hpakant in Myanmar's Kachin State, The Irrawaddy reported.
Local officials said the bodies of four men were retrieved from the rubble while five injured men were taken to Lone Khin and Hpakant hospitals for treatment after the landslide at the site of the Moepin jade mine on Thursday.
A duty officer at Lone Khin police station said the victims were small-scale miners who were searching for gemstones on a mountainside.
More than 20 people were believed to be in the area searching for gemstones when the landslide occurred following days of heavy downpours.
The mine is operated by Yadanar Yaung Chi and work was suspended at the site around one month ago for the monsoon season. It was believed none of the victims of Thursday’s landslide were company employees.
Landslides at jade mine sites in and around Hpakant in northern Myanmar are common, due in part to the unregulated use of explosives and poor safety regulations.
In late March, a rockslide at a jade mine near Hpakant killed at least nine miners and a similar incident killed two people in January