Papua New Guinea

2,000 may have been buried in landslides

Martin Palmborg,

TT

Updated 08.23 | Published 07.17

People on site after the landslide in Yambali in the highlands of Enga province in Papua New Guinea. Photo: Kafuri Yaro/AP

2,000 people are feared to have been buried in the rubble after the landslide in Papua New Guinea last Friday.

A total of 3,000 people lived in the village, which was completely destroyed, and the rescue work is still ongoing.

- This is basically a fight against the clock, says Serhan Aktoprak at the UN's migrant agency IOM.

The landslide occurred in Yambali in the highlands of Enga province shortly before dawn on Friday, burying most of the village.

Of the total of 3,000 people who lived there, 2,000 may have been buried, according to a letter from the country's government to the United Nations.

Those who managed to get out are in a deep state of shock and many are now looking for their relatives in the crowds, reports the Papua New Guinea Courier Post.

Battle against the clock

Rescue workers in Papua Nya Guinea are racing against the clock to find survivors.

- It has already been three days and seven hours since this disaster occurred so this is basically a fight against the clock, but to what extent we could bring people to safety is another question, says Serhan Aktoprak at the UN: s migrant agency IOM in Papua New Guinea early Monday, adding that around 250 nearby homes had been evacuated as a precaution.

Rescue efforts are hampered by unstable ground and local fighting along the only remaining route into the disaster area.

Excavators were supposed to have arrived in the area on Sunday evening - but were delayed due to the violence, which has nothing to do with the landslide, according to Aktoprak.