Dozens of people were feared dead and several missing after a landslide hit a remote jade mining region in northern Myanmar, the second incident in over a month. The landslide took place on Friday in Hpakant in the country's northern Kachin State.

A steep terrain is preventing rescue workers from completing search efforts. Workers were able to pull out a few bodies from the rubble, but at least 30 people are still missing, Khin Maung Myint, a local member of the opposition National League for Democracy party told the Wall Street Journal.

“We are still trying to dig up the landslide,” Tin Tun Aung, a Hpakant township policeman told WSJ. “We don’t know yet if there are dead people inside or not. We’re doing it because we are worried people could be trapped inside.”

“We heard about 50 people were buried in the collapsed dump and four or five bodies were found this morning,” Sai Lon, who works at a mining company in the area, told Reuters on Saturday.

Hpakant, which is about 600 miles northeast of Myanmar’s biggest city, Yangon, is jade industry’s epicenter. On Nov. 22, a landslide in the same mountainous area in Kachin State killed 114 people. The area produces some of the world’s highest-quality jade and is controlled by the country’s powerful military. The industry generated an estimated $31 billion last year.

A US ban on Myanmar jade remains in place over concerns that jade mining not only aggravates corruption and human rights abuses but also benefits military figures. Contact the writer at feedback@ibtimes.com.au, or let us know what you think below.

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