Landslide claims an estimated 100 lives

MELBOURNE, Australia — More than 100 people are believed to have died Friday in a landslide that buried a village in a remote, mountainous region of Papua New Guinea, and officials in the South Pacific island nation said emergency measures were underway.

The landslide hit Enga province, about 370 miles northwest of the capital Port Moresby, at about 3 a.m., Australian Broadcasting Corp reported. Residents in surrounding areas said boulders and trees from a collapsed mountainside had buried parts of the community, isolating them from the outside world.

Residents said the death toll was over 100, but authorities have not confirmed that number. Some villagers and local media reports said the death toll may be much higher, but did not cite sources.

The head of the International Organization for Migration mission in Papua New Guinea, Serhan Aktoprak, said the landslide hit the village of Yambali, about a two-hour drive from Enga’s provincial capital, Wabag.

Yambali is located on a road leading out of the capital and is currently closed, hampering relief efforts, Aktoprak told the Associated Press.

“The ground is still slipping, making work there very difficult,” he said, citing first-hand accounts from IOM staff and others dispatched to the affected village from the provincial capital.

He said the affected area was the size of three to four football fields and the village was home to 3,895 people. He said some houses in the village were spared from the landslide, but the total number of casualties was not yet known.

Aktoprak, speaking by phone from the Papuan capital Port Moresby, said he feared “given the scale of the disaster” that the death toll could be higher than initial estimates of about 100.

There is no access to water in the affected area, power lines are down and villagers will likely have difficulty getting food, Aktoprak said. “We mainly need shelter, non-food items (such as blankets and bedsheets), food and drinking water,” he added.

ABC had previously called the affected village Kaokalam. However, the different names could not immediately be reconciled.

Prime Minister James Marape said authorities were responding and that he would release information on the destruction and loss of life as soon as it was available.

“I am not yet fully informed of the situation. However, I would like to express my deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the landslide disaster in the early hours of this morning,” Marape said in a statement.

“We are sending disaster management officials, the Papua New Guinea Defence Force and the Works and Highways Department to begin relief work, body recovery and infrastructure reconstruction,” he added.

Australia, a neighbouring country and Papua New Guinea’s most generous donor of foreign aid, said its government stood ready to help.

“We extend our deepest condolences to the people of Papua New Guinea following the landslide,” Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong posted on social media. “The loss of life and destruction is devastating,” she added. “As friends and partners, Australia stands ready to assist with relief and reconstruction efforts.”

Videos on social media showed residents pulling out bodies buried under rocks and trees.

Information for this article was contributed by Adam Schreck of The Associated Press.