The national disaster center of Papua New Guinea on Monday said that a deadly landslide that occurred on Friday in a secluded village located in the country’s northern region caused major destruction and more than 2,000 people were buried alive.
An official from the national disaster centre said in a letter to the United Nations , “The landslide buried more than 2,000 people alive and caused major destruction to buildings, food gardens and caused major impact on the economic lifeline of the country,” an official from the national disaster centre said in a letter to the United Nations.
Search and rescue operations faced significant challenges in rural Papua New Guinea on Saturday, following a massive landslide that buried villages and claimed several lives.
The affected area, encompassing three villages, is home to nearly 4,000 residents. Sandis Tsaka, the provincial administrator for Enga, where the disaster occurred, highlighted the likelihood of a substantial death toll due to the landslide striking a densely populated region and a key transportation route.
Emergency responders in Papua New Guinea were relocating survivors to safer areas on Sunday. This action was necessary due to the threat posed by tons of unstable earth and tribal warfare, which is prevalent in the country’s Highlands.
Longtime tribal warfare has raised questions about the accuracy of the official population estimate of nearly 4,000 residents in the village. This doubt emerged when a portion of Mount Mungalo collapsed.
Justine McMahon, country director of the humanitarian agency CARE International, said moving survivors to “more stable ground’ was an immediate priority along with providing them with food, water and shelter. The military is taking the lead in these efforts.
Medical facilities, along with houses, several small businesses, a guest house, school, and a gas station, were buried, according to officials.
McMahon mentioned that there are other health facilities in the region. Additionally, the provincial government is dispatching health workers, and the World Health Organization is mobilizing staff.
“There will be some support, but it’s such a spread-out area that I think it will be quite a challenging situation,” McMahon said. “The scale of this disaster is quite immense.”
Papua New Guinea is located in the tropics, but the village is situated at an elevation of 2,000 meters (6,600 feet) above sea level, resulting in substantially cooler temperatures.
