A massive landslide near a jade mine in northern Myanmar on Saturday has killed at least 90 people and left more than 100 missing, according to officials. The landslide also crushed dozens of shanty huts clustered on the barren landscape, where itinerant workers had made their homes in the hope of finding riches alongside the multi-billion dollar jade industry in the Kachin state, reported AFP. The people killed were mostly villagers and workers who were thought to have been scavenging through waste rubble dumped by mechanical diggers used by mining firms to extract the precious stone, the report added. Landslides are a common hazard in the area, where hundreds have been killed this year in accidents.

Myanmar is home to almost 90% of the world's finest jadeite, bringing in billions of dollars a year to the country. However, the town of Hpakant (pictured above), which is the epicentre of the industry, remains very poor, where miners risk and often lose their lives digging through scraps of the giant mines, reported the Associated Press. The report added that most of the money from the industry goes to individuals and companies tied to Myanmar's former military rulers, according to researchers. The industry has long been kept under wraps, with most of the finest stones thought to be smuggled directly to China, said AFP.