Around 670 people may have died after a landslide buried a remote village in northern Papua New Guinea in the early hours of Friday (24). The estimate is from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), a body linked to the UN.
“Although only five bodies have been found so far, more than 150 houses have been buried. Given this information, we fear that 670 people have lost their lives”, said this Sunday (26) the head of the IOM, Serhan Aktoprak.
According to the delegation sent by the UN, the landslide also hit a school, a church, plantations and vehicles. The number of injured is still undetermined.
The village of Kaokalam is 600 kilometers from Port Moresby, the capital of the Oceanian country. The site was buried by a layer of 6 to 8 meters of earth, rocks and stones, which affected an area of more than 200 square kilometers, including around 150 kilometers of the province’s main highway.
A United Nations report indicates that the disaster area is at risk of suffering new landslides – common at this time of year, due to intense rains and flooding.
According to official data, 4,000 people live in the region, which serves as a base for miners trying to extract gold in the surrounding mountains.
The IOM, however, believes that the number is much higher, as it is a place highly sought after by refugees from tribal clashes that occurred in neighboring territories.
According to Serhan Aktoprak, surviving residents joined professional rescue teams in searching for bodies. “People are using digging sticks, shovels and large farm forks to remove bodies buried in the earth.”
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