An injured person is carried on a stretcher to seek medical help after a landslide in the village of Yambali, Papua New Guinea, Friday, May 24, 2024. More than 100 people are believed to have been killed in the landslide land that buried a village and an Emergency response is underway, officials in this South Pacific island nation said.
Benjamin Sipa/International Organization for Migration/via AP
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Benjamin Sipa/International Organization for Migration/via AP
An emergency convoy was delivering food, water and other supplies Saturday to stunned survivors of a landslide that devastated a remote village in Papua New Guinea’s mountains and is believed to have buried dozens of people, officials said.
An assessment team reported “suggestions” that 100 people were dead and 60 houses buried by the mountainside that collapsed in Enga province hours before dawn on Friday, Serhan said Aktoprak, head of the International Organization for Migration mission to the South Pacific island nation. .
Aktoprak admitted that if the number of buried houses estimated by local authorities was correct, the death toll could be higher.
“The scale is such that I would not be surprised if there were more victims than the 100 previously reported,” Aktoprak said. “If 60 houses had been destroyed, the number of victims would certainly be much higher than 100.”
Only three bodies had been found Saturday morning in the vast swath of earth, rocks and splintered trees that hit Yambali, a village of nearly 4,000 people located 600 kilometers (370 miles) northwest of the capital , Port Moresby.
Medical treatment was provided to seven people, including a child, Aktoprak said. He had no information on the extent of their injuries.
“There are fears that the number of casualties and injuries will increase significantly,” Port Moresby-based Aktoprak said.
Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape said on Friday he would release information on the extent of the destruction and loss of life as soon as it became available.
All the vegetable gardens that support the village’s subsistence farming population were destroyed and the three streams that provide drinking water were buried by the landslide, which also blocked the main road into the province.
A convoy left Wabag, the provincial capital, carrying food, water and other essentials to the devastated village 35 miles away, Aktoprak said.
Andrew Ruing, a resident of the village, said the survivors were in desperate need.
“People can’t cry or they can’t do anything, because it’s difficult for them,” Ruing said in a video broadcast by Australian Broadcasting Corp. “Because such a situation has never happened in history. That is why we are calling on the national government to government, the people on the ground, or the businesses, the heights of everywhere, anywhere – we are looking for help.
Aktoprak said that besides food and water, villagers urgently needed shelter and blankets. Relief will be targeted at the most vulnerable, including children, women, people with disabilities and the elderly, he said.
Rescue efforts delayed by debris
Rescue work was delayed by the landslide which closed the province’s main road, which serves the Porgera gold mine and the neighboring town of Porgera.
Debris from the landslide, 20 to 25 feet deep, also knocked out power to the area, Aktoprak said.
The unstable ground posed risks to relief efforts as well as affected communities.
Papua New Guinea is a diverse and developing country, made up of mostly subsistence farmers and speaking 800 languages. There are few roads outside the big cities.
With 10 million inhabitants, it is the most populous country in the South Pacific after Australia, which has around 27 million.
The United States and Australia say they are ready to react
The United States and Australia are building closer defense ties with the strategically important country, while China is seeking closer security and economic ties.
US President Joe Biden and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said their governments were ready to help respond to the landslide.
Biden, who was set to become the first sitting US president to visit Papua New Guinea a year ago but canceled his trip to focus on the debt crisis in Congress, said he had the heartbroken by the loss of life and devastation.
“Our prayers go out to all the families affected by this tragedy and to all the first responders who are putting themselves in harm’s way to help their fellow citizens,” Biden said in a statement.
“The United States stands with Papua New Guinea – our close partner and friend – today and always,” Biden added.
Albanese posted on social media platform X: “All Australians mourn our brothers and sisters in Papua New Guinea after the terrible landslide.”
Australia is Papua New Guinea’s closest neighbor and most generous provider of foreign aid.
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