The International Organization for Migration has raised its estimate of the number of deaths caused by a huge landslide in Papua New Guinea to more than 670. Serhan Aktoprak, head of the UN Migration Agency’s mission to the island nation South Pacific, said the revised death toll was based on calculations by officials in Yambali village and Enga province that more than 150 homes were buried in Friday’s landslide. The previous estimate was 60 homes. “We estimate that more than 670 people are underground right now,” Aktoprak told The Associated Press.
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While local officials initially estimated Friday’s death toll at 100 or more, only five bodies have been recovered so far. Meanwhile, rescuers are moving survivors to safer ground, while tons of unstable land and tribal warfare, spreading across the country’s highlands, threatened relief efforts. The South Pacific island government is considering whether to officially request more international support.
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Government authorities were setting up evacuation centers on both sides of the massive blanket of debris that covers an area the size of three or four football fields and has cut off the main highway that runs through the province. “Working through the debris is very dangerous and the ground keeps slipping,” Aktoprak said. In addition to the blocked highway, the convoys that have been transporting food, water and other basic necessities since Saturday to the devastated village, 60 kilometers from the provincial capital Wabag, have faced risks linked to tribal fighting in the village of Tambitanis, in about half of the route. Papua New Guinea soldiers ensured the safety of the convoys.
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