Landslide in Papua New Guinea: Around 7,900 people from remote villages are being evacuated.
Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea:
It is now “very unlikely” that more victims of a deadly landslide in Papua New Guinea will be found alive, a UN official told AFP on Tuesday.
“It’s not a rescue mission, it’s a recovery mission,” said Niels Kraaier of UNICEF Papua New Guinea.
“It’s very unlikely they survived.”
Papua New Guinea says about 2,000 people are trapped 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.
Around 7,900 people from remote villages are being evacuated, with the ground around the landslide still moving.
“The tragedy is still active,” Tsaka said. “Every hour you can hear rocks breaking – it’s like a bomb or a gunshot and the rocks keep falling.”
“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.
UN Development Program official Nicholas Booth said many people refused to evacuate, holding out hope that their loved ones would be found.
The immediate focus was on delivering aid and cleaning up the affected area, he told AFP.
In the long term, geological surveys would be needed to determine how many people would need to be permanently relocated, Booth said.
“This landslide has blocked the road to the west, so not only are there challenges accessing the village itself, but it means that communities beyond it are also isolated.”
The isolated communities, with around 30,000 people, have enough supplies for the coming weeks, but the situation could worsen in the coming months, he said.
Police and defense forces plan to arrive at the site on Tuesday and cordon off the most dangerous areas, officials said.
Humanitarian agencies are also trying to obtain food, clean water, health products and educational resources.
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