Natural disasters|The movement of the earth and recent acts of violence have made it difficult for rescue work and getting help there.
Roughly 670 people are feared dead in Friday’s landslide in Papua New Guinea, a representative of the UN’s International Organization for Migration says. More than 150 houses are estimated to have been buried under the landslide.
Representative of the organization Serhan Aktoprak describes the situation on the ground as terrible. According to him, people use, among other things, shovels and pickaxes to dig up bodies buried underground. The movement of the earth has made it difficult for rescue work and getting help there.
According to Aktoprak, more than a thousand people have had to leave their homes. Food crops and water sources are said to have been almost completely destroyed in the area affected by the landslide.
Landslide struck remote Enga province early Friday local time. It is estimated that it may take several days or even weeks to clarify the number of victims. By Saturday evening, five bodies had been found.
The recent acts of violence have also made it difficult for rescue efforts and getting help there. Violence has flared up along the only open route leading to the disaster area. The soldiers of the armed forces have had to secure the access of aid transports.
According to Aktoprak, the violence is not related to the natural disaster that hit the area. According to him, the working conditions of rescue workers are very dangerous.
In rescue operations the badly needed heavy equipment is expected to start arriving in the area during Sunday.
Local community leader Steven Kandai described that many residents had no time at all to escape the landslide.
“The landslide was quite sudden. The mountain just collapsed while people were still sleeping,” he described to news agency AFP.
It has been estimated that the landslide may have been caused by the heavy rains that have been in the area in recent weeks. Studies have found that changes in rainfall caused by climate change may increase the risk of landslides in Papua New Guinea.
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