Many Casualties Feared in Major Papua New Guinea Landslide
Many are feared to have lost their lives in a massive landslide that hit six remote villages in Papua New Guinea, according to Local officials and aid agencies.
The landslide buried more than 100 homes after it struck at around 03:00 local time Friday in the highlands of Enga, north of the island nation in the south-west Pacific.
The number of people trapped in the rubble remains unclear, and no casualties have been officially confirmed. Enga governor Peter Ipatas described the incident to AFP as an "unprecedented natural disaster."
Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister James Marape stated that his government has dispatched disaster officials to the landslide site to begin relief efforts, recover bodies, and reconstruct infrastructure.
"I will release further information as I am fully briefed on the scale of destruction and loss of lives," Mr Marape said in a statement.
According to reports, rescuers are having a hard time sifting through the debris as many houses appeared to have collapsed and trees uprooted.
People can be heard crying and yelling on a video posted by Facebook user Kindupan Kambii from Kaokalam village in Enga.
"There are reports of deaths and multiple casualties, but the exact numbers haven't been confirmed yet," said a spokesman from Papua New Guinea's Red Cross Society.
He added that an emergency response team, consisting of officials from the provincial governor's office, police, defense forces, and local NGOs, has been deployed to the site. The international humanitarian organization CARE said that it is "currently undergoing a situation assessment" of the incident. Enga is located more than 600 km by road from the capital, Port Moresby.
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