PNG landslide: Thousands feared missing after massive mud slide

A massive landslide wiped out a village in Papua New Guinea, burying thousands. Rescue efforts are hampered by deep rubble and lack of equipment as locals desperately dig for survivors.

A deadly landslide that occurred in a closed-off village in the mountainous Enga province of Papua New Guinea on Friday is suspected to have entombed over 2,000 individuals, the acting director of the National Disaster Centre has warned.

The massive landslip happened at about 1 am on Friday when a mountain fell on the village of Kaokalam, a busy village that was completely wiped out by the disaster, stretching over a kilometer wide with debris from the mountainside. The inhabitants of the village prior to the tragedy were about 3,800 individuals.

Till now, they have only managed to pull out a few bodies from the wreckage which is at least 10 meters deep in some places. Nevertheless, it was challenging to determine the exact numbers of dead and missing because of the size of the calamity and the absence of equipment for search and rescue operations.

A local man Evit Kambu added “I am standing on debris and soil and I have 18 of my family members buried here. As for the rest of the people in the village – I have no idea of the number. ”

Further, the rescue operations have been greatly slowed due to the large amount of earth and boulders that bury the area and the damage to the only road in the village. People use shovels and bare hands to try to find people, who are still alive under the soil, as people can be heard screaming for help five days after the tragedy, the rescuers report.

Also Read: UN Concerns 670 Individuals Bury Alive in Horrific Papua Landslide

The United Nations migration agency expressed that the families of the victims have discouraged the use of heavy machines as they fear that the remaining family members that are still trapped may be flattened. Further rainfalls as predicted also pose a likelihood of more landslides in the affected region.