Authorities are trying to establish evacuation centers on safer ground on both sides of the massive swath of rubble.
The International Organization for Migration has raised its estimate of the death toll from a massive landslide in Papua New Guinea (PNG) to more than 670.
Serhan Aktoprak, head of the United Nations agency’s mission in the South Pacific island nation, said on Sunday that the revised death toll was based on calculations by Yambali village and Enga province authorities that more than 150 homes were buried. by Friday’s landslide.
The previous estimate was 60 houses.
“They are estimating that more than 670 people [are] under the ground right now,” Aktoprak said.
“The situation is dire with the ground still slipping. The water is rushing and this creates a huge risk for everyone involved,” added Aktoprak, who lives in the capital, Port Moresby.
Local authorities initially put Friday’s death toll at 100 or more. Only five bodies and a leg of a sixth victim had been recovered as of Sunday, while seven people, including a child, received medical treatment.
Meanwhile, emergency teams were moving survivors of the massive landslide to safer locations as tons of unstable earth and tribal warfare, which is rife in the country’s highlands, threatened the rescue effort.
Damage to infrastructure has also made it difficult for rescue and relief efforts to reach the area, according to Justine McMahon, the PNG representative for humanitarian group CARE Australia.
“The terrain is quite unstable, making access difficult for rescue teams. The main road was also cut by around 200 meters. [656 feet]making relief difficult,” she told Al Jazeera.
Car-sized boulders
Heavy earthmoving equipment has not yet reached the mountainous site, 600 km (370 miles) northwest of Port Moresby.
In some spots, the landslide – a mix of car-sized boulders, uprooted trees and upturned earth – was estimated to be 8 meters (26 feet) deep.
Aid agencies said the catastrophe effectively destroyed the village’s livestock, vegetable gardens and drinking water sources.
Government authorities were trying to establish evacuation centers on safer ground on both sides of the huge swath of rubble that covers an area the size of three to four football fields.
“The land has not yet been colonized,” McMahon told Al Jazeera.
In addition to the blocked road, convoys carrying aid faced risks related to tribal fighting in a village halfway along the route. PNG soldiers provided security for the convoys.
The government is expected to decide by Tuesday whether it will officially request more international aid.
The United States and Australia, a close neighbor and PNG’s most generous provider of foreign aid, are among the governments that have publicly stated their willingness to do more to help first responders.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
