Mandalay, Myanmar – Aye Mon, 30, is left alone with a two–year–old daughter after her husband and younger brother died in the worst collapse of the Myanmar jade mine that killed more than 170 people on Thursday.
Hoping to find gems that could transform his future, his brother, 22-year-old Shwe Moe Tun, had traveled more than 600 km (370 miles) from his village in Monywa to the Hpakant area of Kachin state in the Northern Myanmar, home to a billion-dollar secret. jade dollar industry.
“My husband had been working in the jade mining business for over 10 years. But it was the first time for my brother. It was his second day of working in the mine,” Aye Mon told Al Jazeera.
At least 40 jade collectors killed in the Wai Khar mine disaster were buried on Saturday, the country’s fire department said on its Facebook page, while another 77 were buried in a mass grave on Friday.
Many more were cremated according to Buddhist traditions.
Rescue operations were still ongoing for the fourth day of Sunday, while the bodies of the victims were still recovering from the crash site.
Aye Mon’s husband Soe Min, 31, and her brother were among the hundreds of jade collectors at the mine when the disaster occurred when heavy rains filled the mine with water, creating a lake.
A wall of the mine crashed into the lake, with the big wave of mud that resulted in the deadly landslide.
“My husband and brother were buried yesterday [Saturday]. I have nothing to depend on in my life. All I have left is just my two-year-old daughter, “said Aye Mon.
Myanmar soldiers and Red Cross workers carry a body recovered from the site of a landslide [Ye Aung Thu/AFP]
In search of jadeite, a stone exported to China across the border, migrants from all over Myanmar travel hundreds of kilometers to Hpakant, hoping to find the pieces of jade that are overlooked.
The Wai Khar mine had officially closed due to the danger of landslides, hpakant member of parliament Khin Aung Myint told Al Jazeera.
But the unauthorized jade collectors, who are expected to pay a portion of their profits to rebel groups operating in the area, still went to the mine.
The jade industry is largely controlled by companies linked to the powerful Myanmar army, and trade is worth billions of dollars a year.
Rights group Global Witness says the trade funds fuel the armed conflict between government troops and ethnic Kachin rebels fighting for self-government in the region.
He also said the landslide was a “damning accusation of the government’s failure to curb reckless and irresponsible mining practices.”
‘There are no words to describe his death’
Win Kyaw, 44, worked as an unauthorized jade collector for 20 years and managed to find pieces that were only worth between $ 10 and $ 15. He said that his son, Kyaw Myat Moe, 20, who was killed in the landslide of earth, he had managed to find two large pieces, but they took them away.
“My son received two large stones last year, but a group of Myanmar Army soldiers took them away. If we find a large stone, they always come to ask for it,” Win Kyaw told Al Jazeera.
On the day of the accident, Win Kyaw had asked his son to go to work without him, since he had other matters to attend to.
The bodies of the miners in wooden coffins and wrapped in bags represented in a mass grave before being buried [Ye Aung Thu/AFP]
After hearing the news of the landslide, Win Kyaw ran to the scene only to find his son’s body covered in mud.
“It is a great loss for the family since we only had one child,” he told Al Jazeera. “I have no words to describe his death. I feel lost. It is as if we had broken our legs.”
The distraught father said that his nephew helped him make a wooden coffin for his son. “We buried him yesterday [Saturday],” he said.
Despite the risks, thousands of workers, including Win Kyaw, are still ready to return to the mines to search for precious stones in despair in hopes of getting rich.
Authorities say that makes it difficult to prevent disasters like the one that occurred on Thursday.
“I will continue working here. This is the place of my son’s death. I will not return until I get rich,” said Win Kyaw.
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