At least seven Arakan people among dead in Hpakant jade dump collapse

Burma News International (BNI) is a network of 15 independent media and news organizations based in and around Burma A soil dump collapse near an old jade mine in Namhmaw Village, Hsengtaung Village Tract in Kachin State’s Hpakant Township, has left at least seven people from the Arakan community confirmed dead. The incident occurred around 1:00 a.m. on June 28 at the Thonethein jade mining site, near Namhmaw Village. The collapse struck an abandoned mine area where scavengers were working beneath a waste dump when the soil suddenly gave way, triggering multiple casualties. By the evening of June 29, rescue teams had recovered seven bodies. Local rescue groups said all victims were from the Arakan ethnic community. “Six bodies have already been retrieved. One more is still trapped under the soil and we haven’t been able to recover him yet. All of them are Arakan people,” said an Arakan man involved in the rescue efforts. Local media reports suggested the death toll could rise to around 10 as more victims may still be missing. Following the collapse, search and rescue operations have been jointly carried out by the Hpakant-based Arakan Traditional Charity Group and local community organizations to locate those still unaccounted for. DMG is still investigating the identities of the deceased Arakan people. “The rain poured nonstop, so we couldn’t start proper rescue work immediately. There were also fears that more collapses could happen. I think there may still be people missing under there,” said a Hpakant local familiar with the situation. According to data from Arakan social organizations based in Kachin, hundreds of thousands of Arakan migrants live in Hpakant Township. Most work as scavengers searching for jade fragments at dump sites or are engaged in agricultural labor. In Hpakant, dump collapses and landslides occur every year due to heavy rainfall and other factors, frequently resulting in deaths. Many of the victims are migrant workers from the Arakan community.