UN Migration Agency estimates more than 670 dead in Papua New Guinea landslide

MELBOURNE, Australia — The International Organization for Migration on Sunday raised its death toll from a massive landslide in Papua New Guinea to more than 670 as emergency responders and traumatized relatives gave up hope that any survivors would be found.

Serhan Aktoprak, the head of the UN migration agency's mission in the South Pacific island nation, said the revised death toll was based on calculations by Yambali village and Enga provincial officials that more than 150 houses had been buried by the landslide. on friday. The previous estimate had been 60 houses.

They are estimating that more than 670 people (are) underground right now, Aktoprak told The Associated Press.

Local officials had initially put the death toll on Friday at 100 or more. Only five bodies and a leg of the sixth victim were found on Sunday.

Aid crews were moving survivors to safer ground on Sunday as tons of unstable soil and tribal warfare, which is rife in Papua New Guinea's highlands, threatened rescue efforts.

The national government is meanwhile considering whether to formally seek more international support.

Crews have given up hope of finding survivors under the ground and rubble 6 to 8 meters (20 to 26 feet) deep.

People are coming to terms with this, so there is a serious level of grief and mourning, Aktoprak said.

He said the new estimated death toll was “not solid” because it was based on the region's average household size per household. He would not speculate on the possibility that the actual number could be higher.

It is difficult to say. We want to be quite realistic, said Aktoprak. We do not want to come up with any figures that would inflate the reality.

Government authorities were setting up evacuation centers on safer ground on either side of the massive belt of debris that covers an area the size of three to four fields and has cut off the main highway through the province.

In addition to the blocked highway, convoys carrying food, water and other essential supplies since Saturday to the devastated village 60 kilometers (35 miles) from the provincial capital, Wabag, have faced risks related to tribal fighting in the village of Tambitanis , about halfway along the road. on the way. Papua New Guinean soldiers were providing security for the convoys.

Eight locals were killed in a clash between two rival clans on Saturday in a long-running dispute unrelated to the landslide. About 30 homes and five retail businesses were burned in the fighting, local officials said.

Aktoprak said he did not expect tribal fighters to target the convoys, but noted that opportunistic criminals could take advantage of the chaos to do so.

This can basically end up in car theft or robbery, Aktoprak said. There is concern not only for the safety and security of personnel, but also for goods because they can use this chaos as a means to steal.

The long-running tribal war has cast doubt on the official estimate that almost 4,000 people were living in the village when a side of Mount Mungalo collapsed. The count was old and did not take into account people who had recently moved to the countryside to escape clan violence that government authorities are unable to curb.

Justine McMahon, director of humanitarian agency CARE International, said moving survivors to more stable ground was an immediate priority along with providing them with food, water and shelter. The military led those efforts.

The number of injured and missing was still being assessed on Sunday. Seven people, including a child, had received medical treatment as of Saturday, but officials did not have details on their condition.

Papua New Guinea Defense Minister Billy Joseph and the director of the government's National Disaster Center Laso Mana were flying from Port Moresby by helicopter to Wabag on Sunday to gain a first-hand perspective of what is needed.

Aktoprak expected the government to decide by Tuesday whether to formally request more international aid.

The United States and Australia, a close neighbor and Papua New Guinea the most generous provider of foreign aid, are among the governments that have publicly stated their willingness to do more to help responders.

Papua New Guinea is a diverse, developing nation with 800 languages ​​and 10 million people who are mostly subsistence farmers.