United Nations officials said on Sunday (May 26) that the devastating landslide in the remote northern region of Papua New Guinea, commonly known as PNG, is expected to have claimed the lives of over 670 people. Rescue teams are still working tirelessly to find survivors.
According to a report by the Associated Press, Serhan Aktoprak, head of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) mission in Papua New Guinea, said on Sunday that the revised death toll was based on calculations by officials from Yambali village and Enga province. The landslide on Friday (May 24) resulted in over 150 houses being buried, surpassing the previous estimate of 60 houses.
Aktoprak added that the initial report indicated the village had a population of about 4,000 people, but a new estimate revealed that the actual number of residents is much higher.
Officials stated that over 250 households have been evacuated, with an estimated 1,250 people displaced, many of whom have found temporary shelter with nearby relatives and friends.
On Sunday, rescue teams were in the process of relocating survivors to safer areas. The country’s highlands pose a significant challenge to rescue efforts due to the extensive unstable terrain and tribal conflicts.
On Saturday, clashes between two rival tribes resulted in the deaths of eight locals, unrelated to the ongoing landslide. Approximately 30 houses and five retail stores were reportedly burned down during the conflict.
The PNG government is considering whether they need to formally request additional international support.
Rescue teams have now abandoned hopes of finding survivors buried under 6 to 8 meters (20 to 26 feet) of mud and debris.
Aktoprak said, “People are coming to terms with the fact, so there is a lot of grief and mourning.”
He mentioned that the newly estimated death toll is “unreliable” as it is based on the average family size in the area. He refrained from speculating that the actual death toll could be higher.
“The soil is still moving, the situation is very dire. Water is still flowing, posing a huge risk to everyone,” Aktoprak stated, overseeing the emergency relief teams from Port Moresby.
Government authorities are setting up evacuation centers on the relatively safer sides of the extensive debris field, covering an area equivalent to three to four football fields, and blocking the major highways that traverse the province.
Aktoprak anticipated that tribal fighters would not target the rescue convoys, but he also pointed out that opportunistic criminals might exploit the chaos.
According to villagers, when the landslide occurred in the early hours of Friday, many people were still asleep inside their homes.