More than 2,000 people could be buried alive by a massive landslide in Papua New Guinea last week, the government said on Monday, as treacherous terrain and the difficulty of getting aid to the site raises the risk few survivors will be found. The National Disaster Centre raised the number suspected buried to 2,000 in a letter to the U.N.
released on Monday but dated Sunday. A separate U.N.
agency put the possible death toll much lower, at more than 670 people. The variance reflects the remote site and the difficulty getting an accurate population estimate. PNG's last credible census was in 2000 and many people live in isolated mountainous villages.
The landslide crashed through Yambali village in the country's north at around 3 a.m. on Friday while most of the community slept.
More than 150 houses were buried beneath debris almost two stories high. Rescuers told local media they heard screams from beneath the earth. "I have 18 of my family members being buried under the debris and soil that I am standing on, and a lot more family members in the village I cannot count," resident Evit Kambu told Reuters.
"But I cannot retrieve the bodies so I am standing here helplessly." More than 72 hours after the landslide residents are still using spades, sticks and their bare hands to try and shift the debris and reach any survivors. Heavy equipment and aid has been slow to arrive due to the remote location while tribal warfare nearby has forced aid workers to travel in convoys escorted .
