A Papua New Guinea government official has told the United Nations that more than 2,000 people are believed to have been buried alive by last Friday’s landslide and has formally asked for international help. According to the AP, the government figure is roughly triple the U.N. estimate of 670 killed by the landslide in the South Pacific island nation’s mountainous interior. The remains of only five people had been recovered by Monday, local authorities reported. It was not immediately clear why the tally of six reported on Sunday had been revised down
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) issued The death toll number of more than 670 on Sunday, May 26, 2024. Emergency responders and grieving relatives have largely lost hope of finding any additional survivors.
Serhan Aktoprak, head of the U.N. migration agency’s mission in the South Pacific island nation, stated that the updated death toll was derived from calculations by officials from Yambali village and Enga province, who reported that more than 150 homes were buried by the landslide that occurred on Friday. The previous estimate had put the number of buried homes at 60.
“They are estimating that more than 670 people [are] under the soil at the moment,” Aktoprak informed The Associated Press.
Initially, local officials had estimated the death toll at 100 or more on Friday. By Sunday, only five bodies and part of a sixth had been recovered. An excavator, donated by a local builder, became the first piece of mechanical equipment to aid in the recovery effort.
Relief crews began moving survivors to safer locations on Sunday, as the threat of further landslides and ongoing tribal conflicts in the Papua New Guinea Highlands complicated rescue operations. Since the landslide, approximately 250 additional houses have been condemned due to shifting ground, leaving an estimated 1,250 people homeless.
The national government is considering whether to officially request further international support. Hopes of finding survivors beneath 6 to 8 meters (20 to 26 feet) of earth and rubble have dwindled.
“People are coming to terms with this so there is a serious level of grieving and mourning,” Aktoprak noted.
Aktoprak emphasized that the new death toll estimate is “not solid” as it is based on the average household size in the region, refraining from speculating on a potentially higher toll.
“It is difficult to say. We want to be quite realistic,” Aktoprak added. “We do not want to come up with any figures that would inflate the reality.”
Government authorities have established evacuation centers on safer ground on both sides of the debris field, which spans an area the size of three to four football fields and has blocked the main highway through the province.
Convoys transporting food, water, and essential supplies to the devastated village, located 60 kilometers (35 miles) from the provincial capital, Wabag, have faced risks due to tribal fighting in Tambitanis village, about halfway along the route. Papua New Guinea soldiers are providing security for these convoys.
In unrelated tribal conflict, eight locals were killed, and around 30 homes and five businesses were burned down in a clash between two rival clans on Saturday.
Aktoprak expressed confidence that tribal combatants would not target the convoys but acknowledged the risk of opportunistic criminals exploiting the chaos.
“This could basically end up in carjacking or robbery,” Aktoprak said. “There is not only concern for the safety and security of the personnel, but also the goods because they may use this chaos as a means to steal.”
The longstanding tribal warfare has cast doubt on the official estimate that nearly 4,000 people were living in the village when part of Mount Mungalo collapsed. This count did not account for recent relocations due to clan violence. Local authorities now acknowledge the village population was substantially higher than 4,000 at the time of the disaster, though a revised estimate is not yet available.
Justine McMahon, country director of the humanitarian agency CARE International, emphasized that moving survivors to “more stable ground” is an immediate priority, along with providing food, water, and shelter. The military is leading these efforts.
The numbers of injured and missing are still being assessed. As of Saturday, seven people, including a child, had received medical treatment, but officials had no details on their conditions.
Papua New Guinea Defense Minister Billy Joseph and the government’s National Disaster Center director Laso Mana traveled from Port Moresby to Wabag on Sunday to assess the situation firsthand.
Aktoprak expects the government to decide by Tuesday whether to officially request additional international assistance. The United States and Australia, a close neighbor and significant provider of foreign aid to Papua New Guinea, have expressed their readiness to support further.
Papua New Guinea is a diverse, developing nation with 800 languages and a population of 10 million, primarily subsistence farmers.
(AP)
