Just getting to survivors has proved to be an enormous challenge, with a blocked highway and unstable ground “posing ongoing danger” to rescue workers.
The deadly landslide toppled buildings and vehicles, trapping thousands of people under rubble, officials said.CreditCredit…New Porgera Limited, via ReutersMore than 2,000 people were buried alive in the landslide that smothered a Papua New Guinea village and work camp on Friday in the country’s remote northern highlands, the authorities told the United Nations on Monday.
Government officials visited the disaster site on Sunday. And even as the official death toll jumped from a few dozen to 670, they warned that far more victims than expected appeared to still be caught under the rubble.
“The landslide buried more than 2,000 people alive and caused major destruction to buildings, food gardens and caused major impact on the economic lifeline of the country,” Lusete Laso Mana, an official in the national disaster center, said in a letter to the United Nations.
The letter stressed that rescue efforts continued to be a challenge. The main highway to the area is blocked, the letter said, and the ground remains unstable as water flows beneath the rocks, shifting land and “posing ongoing danger to both the rescue teams and survivors alike.”
The region, in Enga Province, is densely populated and located near the Porgera gold mine operated by Barrick Gold, a company based in Canada, in collaboration with Zijin Mining, a Chinese group. It is an area of remote and difficult jungle terrain, in a country of around 12 million people that sits just north of Australia. Tropical and divided along tribal, ethnic and linguistic lines, Papua New Guinea is rich in natural resources but largely underdeveloped, making it especially vulnerable to natural disasters, which strike frequently.
U.N. officials have been closely monitoring the situation. And with the latest estimate in hand, they emphasized that the need for assistance would be long-term and complicated.
“This situation necessitates immediate action and international support to mitigate further losses and provide essential aid to those affected,” said Anne Mandal, a spokesperson for the U.N.’s International Organization for Migration.
Over the weekend, the agency estimated that, on top of the toll of dead and missing, more than 250 houses had been abandoned as residents feared additional slippage, with roughly 1,250 people displaced.
Just getting to survivors has proved to be an enormous challenge. An aid convoy reached the area on Saturday afternoon to deliver tarps and water, but no food. On Sunday, the local government secured food and water for around 600 people, according to the U.N., but heavy equipment still had not made it through, leaving people to search for bodies on dangerous, unstable debris using small shovels and pitchforks.
Tribal feuds have also added to the post-disaster safety risks.
Ruth Kissam, a community organizer in Enga Province, said giant boulders fell from the land of one tribe onto a residential town occupied by another tribe.
“There will be tension,” she said. “There is already tension.”
Even before the disaster, the region had been experiencing tribal clashes that led people to flee surrounding villages, with many ending up concentrated in the community buried in the landslide. In September of last year, much of Enga was in a government lockdown and under a curfew, with no flights in or out.
Now, as the search for the dead and living continues, anger and violence have been intensifying.
On Saturday morning, a quarrel flared between two clans, leaving people dead and dozens of houses burned down, said Seran Aktoprak, the chief of mission at the International Organization for Migration’s office in Papua New Guinea. He added that the threat of violence makes it harder to deliver aid.
Papua New Guinea officials also stressed a need for calm.
“Following the inspection conducted by the team, it was determined that the damages are extensive and require immediate and collaborative actions from all players,” said the letter from government officials who visited the site.
The landslide struck the village about 3 a.m. Friday, when many residents were asleep. Some of the boulders that buried houses and cut off a major highway were larger than shipping containers. Even in a region with frequent heavy storms and earthquakes, the landslide has drawn intense expressions of grief from within the country and beyond — including the White House.
“Jill and I are heartbroken by the loss of life and devastation caused by the landslide in Papua New Guinea,” President Biden said in a statement after the disaster. “Our prayers are with all the families impacted by this tragedy and all the first responders who are putting themselves in harm’s way to help their fellow citizens.”
