Five migrant workers trying to scavenge gems were shot dead and about 20 others were injured during a clash with security police on Wednesday night at a jade mine in the resource-rich Hpakant township mining region, RFA reported quoting a local police official said.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Myo Thura Naung from the Kachin State Police told RFA’s Myanmar Service that more than 60 workers entered the operations of a Myanmar-China joint venture called Triple One Company in the Lone Kin mining area at 9:30 p.m.
After security guards made them turn back, about 600 returned an hour later and refused to let the guards stop them from entering the area, he said.