Myanmar leader blames joblessness for deadly mining tragedy

A small boat approaches an area where bodies are recovered on Friday (July 3), in Hpakant, Kachin State, Myanmar. More than 100 people were killed Thursday in a landslide at a jade mine in northern Myanmar, the worst in a series of deadly accidents at such sites in recent years. - AP

HPAKANT, Myanmar, July 3 (AP): Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi expressed sadness Friday over a landslide at a jade mining site in the country’s north that took at least 166 lives, blaming the tragedy on joblessness.

Suu Kyi, speaking on a scheduled Facebook Live broadcast with representatives of the construction industry, bemoaned what she described as the need for people to illegally sift for jade because they lacked other ways of making a living.