Pupa New Guinea (PNG) Friday’s, May 24, massive landslide has put more than 670 lives at risk.
According to Al Jazeera, the International Organization for Migration has increased the estimated death toll from landslides to more than 670.
The chief of the United Nations agency’s mission in the South Pacific island nation, Serhan Aktoprak, on Sunday, May 26, revised the death toll that more than 150 homes had been buried by landslide that was previously estimated as 60 homes. UN revised these figures based on the calculation by Yambali village and Enga provisional officials.
Aktoprak said. “They are estimating that more than 670 people (are) under the soil at the moment. The situation is terrible, with the land still sliding. The water is running, and this is creating a massive risk for everyone involved.”
The landslide hit Kaokalam village in Enga Province, about 600 km (370 miles) northwest of the capital, Port Moresby, at around 3 am on Friday (19:00 GMT ON Thursday).
As per Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), more than six villages have been impacted by the landslide in the Mulitaka region.
Moreover, only five bodies and a leg of a sixth victim had been recovered by Sunday, while seven people, including a child, had received medical treatment.
The UN humanitarian adviser, Mate Bagossy, told ABC, “The recovery time is expected to be long. Search and rescue efforts are complicated due to the nature of the terrain and the remote access. So we expect search and rescue to continue for days or weeks."
