More than 2,000 people buried alive in Papua New Guinea landslide as recovery efforts continue

More than 2,000 people buried alive in Papua New Guinea landslide as recovery efforts continue

RESCUE teams have traveled to the northern region of Papua New Guinea since Friday in hopes of finding potential survivors after a massive landslide buried hundreds of people alive.

Most of the residents were still sleeping when disaster hit.

The landslide occurred in the mountainous Enga region in northern Papua New Guinea.

Rescuers race against time digging under the rubble as chances of finding survivors are getting slimmer with each day that passes by.

Authorities declared a state of emergency across the disaster zone and a neighboring area.

Rescuers risk their lives looking for survivors and recovering bodies despite the landslide still active. The more they dig, the more land falls from the collapsed part of the mountain.

Some survivors desperate to find their missing loved ones took the matter upon themselves by using shovels and their bare hands to dig through muddy rubble and debris.

“The landslide occurred in the early hours of Friday morning. The provincial authorities responded very quickly and effectively, conducting an initial assessment. We believe that there are access issues because the main road has been destroyed for about 200 meters. So that means that trucks delivering relief supplies and other heavy equipment can’t get into the area. But the authorities are prioritizing the repair of that road now. As of last night, the authorities announced they had recovered seven bodies. However, we believe, because of the size of the population and also the time of day that it happened, the death toll will rise quite significantly,” Justine McMahon PNG Country Director of Care International said.

‘’Currently, the bodies are yet to be retrieved. The locals are still working and trying to dig out more of the bodies. The provincial government is sending a natural disaster team with healthcare team and some police and defense personnel to go there and check out and assist at the site,” Karen Wai, a local resident said.

The landslide in Papua New Guinea is just one of the harrowing tales of disaster taking place in Asia-Pacific, with cyclones, flash floods, and heatwaves wreaking havoc in the region and other parts of the world since the start of the year.

 

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