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26-05-2024
SYDNEY: More than 300 people and over 1,100 houses were buried by a massive landslide that levelled a remote village in northern Papua New Guinea, local media reported on Saturday.
Hundreds are feared dead in the landslide that hit Kaokalam village in Enga Province, about 600 km (370 miles) northwest of capital Port Moresby, around 3 a.m. on Friday (1900 GMT on Thursday).
The landslide in the Pacific nation north of Australia buried more than 300 people and 1,182 houses, the Papua New Guinea Post Courier said, citing comments from a member of the country’s parliament, Aimos Akem. Akem did not immediately respond to media request for comment via social media.
More than six villages had been impacted by the landslide in the province’s Mulitaka region, Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said on Saturday.
“Australia’s High Commission in Port Moresby is in close contact with PNG authorities for further assessments on the extent of the damage and casualties,” a DFAT spokesperson said in a statement.
The Australian Broadcasting Corp reported on Saturday that four bodies had been retrieved from the area after emergency teams reached the sparsely populated area, where the death toll is expected to rise.
The landslide has blocked highway access, making helicopters the only way to reach the area, the broadcaster reported.
Social media footage posted by villager Ninga Role showed people clambering over rocks, uprooted trees and mounds of dirt searching for survivors. Women could be heard weeping in the background.
Prime Minister James Marape has said disaster officials, the Defence Force and the Department of Works and Highways were assisting with relief and recovery efforts.
The Australian Broadcasting Corp and other local media reported that more than 100 people had been killed.
One man who turned back to try and save his two children was buried along with his extended family, Role said.
Social media footage posted by Role showed people clambering over rocks, uprooted trees and mounds of dirt searching for survivors. Women could be heard weeping in the background.
“It’s very impossible, the area covered by the landslide is large and there are rocks and trees everywhere,” Role said.
The village is in Enga province, about 600 km (370 miles) north of the capital, Port Moresby.
Prime Minister James Marape said in a statement he was yet to be fully briefed, but that authorities were responding to the disaster.
“We are sending in disaster officials, PNG Defence Force, and the Department of Works and Highways to meet provincial and district officials in Enga and also start relief work, recovery of bodies, and reconstruction of infrastructure,” Marape said.
“I will release further information as I am fully briefed on the scale of destruction and loss of lives.”
PNG police did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The landslide hit a section of highway near the Porgera gold mine, operated by Barrick Gold (ABX.TO), opens new tab through Barrick Niugini Ltd, its joint venture with China’s Zijin Mining (601899.SS), opens new tab.
“The extent of the damage is still being assessed, so it is too early to know the impact, if any, on the operations of the Porgera Gold Mine, which is 100 km away,” a spokesperson for Barrick Gold said. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
