Authorities in Papua New Guinea have begun the evacuation of thousands of people threatened by a possible new landslide in the country’s central highlands, where the collapse of a mountain section could have buried alive more than 2,000 people Friday.
“We are trying to evacuate,” Sandis Tsaka, administrator of Enga province, told AFP. “Every hour we hear the rock breaking. It’s like a bomb or a gunshot and the rocks keep falling,” he added.
Mr. Tsaka initially told AFP that local authorities were evacuating 7,900 people, before specifying that this was the estimated population of two districts to be evacuated.
However, officials from humanitarian aid agencies told AFP that many residents were refusing to leave the area in the hope of finding missing loved ones.
These evacuations come after the gigantic landslide which wiped out the village of Yambali, in the province of Enga, on Friday around 3 a.m. (1 p.m. Thursday in Quebec), surprising residents in their sleep.
According to rescue services, more than 2,000 people may have been buried, but so far rescuers have only found five bodies, as well as the leg of a sixth.
It is “very unlikely” that rescuers will find survivors given the severity of the landslide and the time that has passed since it took place, Niels Kraaier, representative of the landslide, told AFP. UNICEF in Papua New Guinea.
According to him, “this is not a rescue mission, but a recovery mission” of the corpses.
The number of inhabitants present in the village at the time when a section of Mount Mugalo collapsed on it is particularly difficult to estimate, the electoral lists being obsolete and only listing people over 18 years old.
The village, which served as a trading post for miners searching for gold in the highlands, had a population that could reach more than 4,000 people. Many people fleeing recurring tribal violence in the region have also taken refuge there in recent years, noted Nicholas Booth, an official with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
Mr. Tsaka, who visited the site twice, said that residents dig the ground with their hands to try to find the missing.
“The Surface of the Moon”
“It was a very populated area, with homes, businesses, churches and schools, and it was completely wiped out. This is the surface of the Moon. They are nothing more than rocks,” he explained.
The survivors are “traumatized”, continued this official. “Entire families were buried under the debris. […] Every resident of Enga province has a friend or family member who has been killed, missing or affected by this tragedy,” he said.
Mr. Tsaka spoke during a videoconference which brought together officials from several countries on Tuesday morning with a view to providing emergency international aid. Neighboring Australia, as well as India, China, the United States, France and the World Health Organization (WHO) have already offered assistance.
“I am not equipped to deal with this tragedy,” complained the provincial official.
The army is currently trying to transport heavy construction equipment to the site.
Aid agencies estimate that more than 1,000 people have already been displaced by the disaster.
According to UNDP official Nicholas Booth, up to 30,000 people are likely isolated after the main road was damaged by the landslide. He stressed that these communities have enough food to survive for several weeks, but that the road must be rehabilitated.
“This landslide has blocked the road to the west, so that not only is it difficult to access the village (buried by the landslide, editor’s note), but the communities living beyond are also isolated,” he notes to AFP.
According to local residents, the landslide may have been caused by recent heavy rains.
Papua New Guinea has one of the wettest climates in the world. Research has shown that changes in rainfall patterns linked to climate change could increase the risk of landslides.
The arrival of relief in this region, located about 600 km from the capital Port Moresby, is also complicated by a wave of tribal violence, unrelated to the disaster, along the only access road from Wabag, the capital provincial.
“Many houses are burning […]. Women and children have been displaced, and all the young people and men in the area are armed with bush knives,” said Serhan Aktoprak of the UN Migration Office.