UN migration agency estimates death toll in Papua New Guinea landslide at more than 670
![UN migration agency estimates death toll in Papua New Guinea landslide at more than 670 UN migration agency estimates death toll in Papua New Guinea landslide at more than 670](https://i3.wp.com/i.abcnewsfe.com/a/5dadbb52-6972-427e-b41d-a69094473bbb/wirestory_642d9e8e0c913efa25ed2d67df318393_16x9.jpg?w=1600&w=1600&resize=1600,900&ssl=1)
Melbourne, Australia — The International Organization for Migration on Sunday raised its estimate of the death toll from a massive landslide in Papua New Guinea to more than 670, as rescue workers and traumatized relatives gave up hope that any survivors were now found.
Serhan Aktoprak, head of the U.N. migration agency’s mission to the South Pacific island nation, said the revised death toll was based on calculations by Yambali village and provincial officials. Enga, according to which more than 150 houses had been buried by Friday’s landslide. The previous estimate was 60 homes.
“They estimate that there are currently more than 670 people underground,” Aktoprak told the Associated Press.
Local authorities had initially estimated the death toll Friday at 100 or more. Only five bodies and the leg of a sixth victim were found on Sunday.
Rescue teams were transporting survivors to safer ground on Sunday as tons of unstable terrain and tribal warfare, gripping Papua New Guinea’s highlands, threatened rescue efforts.
The national government is considering whether to formally request more international support.
Teams have given up hope of finding survivors beneath the earth and rubble at a depth of 6 to 8 meters (20 to 26 feet).
“People accept this, so there is a serious level of grieving and grieving,” Aktoprak said.
He said the new estimated death toll was “not robust” because it was based on the region’s average family size per household. He would not speculate on the possibility that the actual toll could be higher.
“It’s difficult to say. We want to be quite realistic,” Aktoprak said. “We don’t want to come up with numbers that would inflate reality.”
Government authorities were establishing evacuation centers on safer ground on either side of the huge debris belt that covers an area the size of three to four fields and has cut off the road main crossing the province.
Alongside the blocked highway, convoys carrying food, water and other essential supplies since Saturday to the devastated village 60 kilometers (35 miles) from the provincial capital, Wabag, are facing risks from tribal fighting in the village of Tambitanis, about halfway along the road. itinerary. Papua New Guinean soldiers provided security for the convoys.
Eight residents were killed Saturday in a clash between two rival clans, in a long-running conflict unrelated to the landslide. About 30 homes and five retail businesses were burned during the fighting, local officials said.
Aktoprak said he did not expect tribal fighters to target the convoys, but noted that opportunistic criminals could take advantage of the chaos to do so.
“This could result in a carjacking or theft,” Aktoprak said. “There are not only concerns for the safety and security of staff, but also for goods, as they could use this chaos as a means to steal.”
Long-standing tribal wars have cast doubt on the official estimate that nearly 4,000 people lived in the village when a side of Mount Mungalo collapsed. This count dates back several years and does not take into account people who recently moved to the village to flee clan violence that government authorities are unable to contain.
Justine McMahon, country director of humanitarian agency CARE International, said moving survivors to “more stable ground” was an immediate priority, as was providing them with food, water and shelter. The military led these efforts.
The number of injured and missing was still being assessed on Sunday. Seven people, including a child, had received medical treatment Saturday, but authorities had no details on their conditions.
Papua New Guinea Defense Minister Billy Joseph and National Disaster Center director Laso Mana flew by helicopter from Port Moresby to Wabag on Sunday to get a first-hand look at what is needed.
Aktoprak expects the government to decide by Tuesday whether it will formally request additional international aid.
The United States and Australia, a close neighbor and Papua New Guinea’s most generous foreign aid provider, are among the governments that have publicly said they are prepared to do more to help responders .
Papua New Guinea is a diverse, developing country, with 800 languages and 10 million people who make their living mostly as subsistence farmers.
ABC News