Search and rescue teams are struggling to access a mountainside in Papua New Guinea where more than 2,000 people are feared dead after a massive landslide.
Luseta Laso Mana, acting director of the South Pacific island nation’s National Disaster Centre, said the landslide “buried more than 2.000 people alive” and caused “major destruction” at Yambali village in the Enga province, in a letter sent to the United Nations resident coordinator on Sunday.
Ongoing rain, flowing water, and unstable ground are making it extremely difficult for rescue officials to search for survivors in the mud.
The landslide came crashing through Yambali village in the country’s north at around 3 am on Friday when most villagers were asleep in their homes.
Locals have reported hearing screams coming from beneath the earth after more than 150 houses were buried under debris almost two stories high.
Residents are still using their bare hands, spades, and sticks to excavate the debris and reach survivors as heavy equipment and other aid has been slow to reach the remote location.
The village has a patchy mobile phone reception and limited access to electricity, making contact with other parts of Papua New Guinea difficult.
Local tribal warfare has also impacted the movement of humanitarian aid workers in the area, who have to be escorted to the landslide-hit region by soldiers and then taken back to the provincial capital, which is around 60km away, at night.
The first excavator reached the affected site late on Sunday, a UN official said, adding that six bodies have been recovered so far.
The UN has said there is a risk that soil and debris could shift again and more than 250 homes have been abandoned as officials encourage people in the wider region to evacuate.
Some 1,250 people have been displaced so far as a result of the landslides.
