Myanmar landslide kills 12 ruby miners

YANGON (Reuters) - Torrential rains caused a landslide that killed 12 miners in Mogok, military-ruled Myanmar's "Valley of Rubies" gem zone, a source with relatives living in the area said on Friday.

"At least a dozen ruby miners died in the landslide," the source said, adding that four members of one family were also swept away in flooding caused by Thursday's monsoon season downpour in the foothills of the Shan Plateau.

Mogok, about 650 miles (1,000 km) north of Yangon, is the source of the former Burma's famed "pigeon's blood" rubies, said to be the world's finest.

Experts estimate that 90 percent of all rubies come from Myanmar although since September's bloody crackdown on protests led by Buddhist monks, anti-junta campaigners have been lobbying for tighter sanctions to stop their international trade.

Rubies, sapphires and jade are important sources of foreign exchange for the military, which has ruled with an iron fist since seizing power in a 1962 coup. The United States said the junta made about $300 million from the gem trade in 2007.

Conditions in the mines around Mogok, which is off-limits to foreigners, are said to be horrendous, with workers toiling for a pittance at the bottom of make-shift pits hewn out of the hillside.