Massive landslide in Papua New Guinea buried over 2,000 people alive
The National Disaster Centre announced that a massive landslide in Papua New Guinea buried over 2,000 people alive. The risk of few survivors being found is increased by the hazardous terrain and the challenge of transporting relief to the spot.
The local authorities’ estimations of the number of people buried around Yambali village in the northern province of Enga have been climbing rapidly since Friday’s avalanche.
A UN agency estimated the death toll on Sunday to be above 670.
In a Sunday letter to the UN that was made public on Monday, the National Disaster Centre increased the death toll once more to 2,000. It added that the landslip seriously damaged food gardens and buildings as well.
“The situation remains unstable as the landslip continues to shift slowly, posing an ongoing danger to both the rescue teams and survivors alike,” the letter states.
CARE International PNG country director Justine McMahon told ABC television on Monday that some 4,000 people lived close to the impacted area.
However, since many people live in isolated mountainside communities and PNG’s last reliable census was conducted in 2000, obtaining an accurate estimate of the local population is challenging. The nation just declared that a census will be held in 2024.
The unsteady terrain, isolated location, and adjacent tribal conflict hamper relief operations in Papua New Guinea.
Although emergency teams were on the ground, headed by defence forces from Papua New Guinea (PNG), a U.N. official said that the first excavator did not arrive at the site until late on Sunday.
Local media teams and locals shared social media videos of people climbing rocks and searching for survivors with shovels, sticks, and their bare hands. In the background, wailing women could be heard.
Up till now, six bodies have been recovered. The UN warned that given rescue operations were anticipated to last for days, the exact number of likely fatalities could vary.
Monday, PNG media reported that after hearing their calls for assistance, locals had saved a couple buried under debris.
Described as a miracle, Johnson and Jacklyn Yandam expressed their immense gratitude to local NBC News.
We give God credit for sparing our lives at that precise moment. The large boulders did not crush us, even though we were sure we would perish. The fact that we were stranded for almost eight hours before being rescued makes it extremely difficult to express. We think there was a reason for our salvation.
The landslip in the Enga province of PNG early on Friday caused about 1,250 people to be relocated. About 250 dwellings were abandoned, and over 150 were buried.
Eight meters (26.3 feet) of soil cover the dwellings, McMahon of CARE said. Consequently, there is a lot of material to sort through.