Papua New Guinea says 7,900 people evacuated under new landslide threat

A vast patch of yellow and gray debris can be seen cutting through the verdant forest.

Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea:

Papua New Guinea decided to evacuate about 7,900 people from remote villages near the site of a deadly landslide on Tuesday, as authorities warned of further slides.

It is feared that around 2,000 people have already been buried in a landslide that destroyed a remote highland community in the early hours of May 24.

With rescue and relief efforts hampered by the remote location, a cut road link, heavy rains and nearby tribal violence, Enga provincial administrator Sandis Tsaka warned the disaster could get worse.

Tsaka said authorities were trying to coordinate the evacuation of nearly 7,900 people as clumps of limestone, earth and rock continued to break away from Mount Mungalo.

“The tragedy is still active,” he told AFP. “Every hour you can hear rocks breaking – it’s like a bomb or a gunshot and the rocks keep falling.”

Satellite images from Monday showed the enormous scale of the disaster.

A vast patch of yellow and gray debris can be seen cutting through the verdant forest and cutting off the region’s only road.

For four days and nights, locals have scoured a hellish landscape of upturned earth meters deep, uprooted trees and boulders the size of cars, using little more than shovels and sticks to dig.

“This was a densely populated area with homes, businesses, churches and schools, it was completely destroyed. It’s the surface of the Moon – it’s just rocks,” Tsaka said.

“People are digging with their hands and fingers,” he said, expressing anguish at the inability of the resource-strapped government to cope with the enormity of the disaster.

“I’m not prepared to deal with this tragedy,” admitted Tsaka.

The Papua New Guinea Defense Forces are trying to access the site with heavy earthmoving equipment.

It is increasingly unlikely that they will find survivors and so rescue teams are now turning to the difficult task of recovering bodies.

Papua New Guinea’s overwhelmed authorities held an emergency online meeting with United Nations agencies and international allies on Tuesday, hoping to kick-start the aid effort.

An “immediate” response is needed

Papua New Guinea’s national disaster center told the United Nations that the “initial landslide buried more than 2,000 people alive.”

According to a letter obtained by AFP, the landslide also “caused great destruction in buildings, vegetable gardens and had a major impact on the country’s economic survival”.

The scale of the catastrophe required “immediate and collaborative actions from all parties”, he added, including the army and national and provincial response teams.

Australia announced millions of dollars worth of aid, including emergency supplies such as shelters, hygiene kits and support for women and children.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his American counterpart Joe Biden – more accustomed to fighting for influence in strategically located Papua New Guinea – offered assistance.

More than 1,000 people have already been displaced by the catastrophe, aid agencies estimate.

‘Houses are on fire’

Local residents said the landslide may have been triggered by recent heavy rains.

Papua New Guinea has one of the wettest climates in the world and research has concluded that changes in precipitation patterns associated with climate change could exacerbate the risk of landslides.

The death toll has risen since the disaster, as authorities reassess the size of the population lying beneath mud and rubble, spanning nearly four football fields.

Estimating the number of victims is difficult because many people fleeing tribal violence have moved to the area in recent years, said Nicholas Booth, an official with the United Nations Development Program.

Five bodies and the leg of a sixth were pulled from the rubble on Saturday night.

An outbreak of tribal fighting unrelated to the disaster was blocking attempts to bring humanitarian aid from the provincial capital, Wabag, said Serhan Aktoprak, an official with the UN migration agency.

“Many houses are burning and others are emitting smoke. Women and children were displaced while all the young men and women in the area were carrying knives,” he said, citing a report from a humanitarian aid convoy trying to reach the disaster site.

The area is located about 600 kilometers (370 mi) from Port Moresby.

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