Death toll rises to 104 in Myanmar's landslide

Death toll jumped again in Myanmar's landslide as rescuers recovered more bodies Sunday, bringing the total to 104 as of the day's evening, three days after a giant amount of dump soil from a jade mine collapsed in Myanmar's northernmost Kachin state, an official report said on Monday.

The landslide, which occurred early on Friday and was the worst during this year, buried about 80 households in Sankhatku village in Hpa-kant town when local miners were sleeping near the dump soil.

Many more people are still missing, as search and rescue operations have been continuing at the site using 17 backhoes to clear the soil.

The Hpa-kant township administration has designated some areas including the one where the tragedy happened as risk areas, noticing miners not to reside there.

Migrant miners from five small companies were searching for jade in piles of waste soil around the mountainside.

Residents said five similar incidents took place in the same area this year.

Sources: XINHUA