Landslide in Papua New Guinea claims an estimated 100 lives; emergency convoy brings relief supplies to survivors

An emergency convoy delivered food, water and other supplies Saturday to stunned survivors of a landslide that devastated a remote village in Papua New Guinea’s mountains, likely burying dozens of people, officials said.

A team of experts reported about 100 deaths and 60 buried houses as a result of the landslide in Enga province a few hours before dawn on Friday, said Serhan Aktoprak, head of the International Organization for Migration mission in the South Pacific island nation.

Aktoprak said if the number of buried houses estimated by local authorities is correct, the death toll could be even higher.

“The scale is so great that I would not be surprised if there were more victims than the 100 previously reported,” said Aktoprak. “If 60 houses had been destroyed, then the number of victims would definitely be much higher than 100.”

As of Saturday morning, only three bodies had been recovered from the vast swath of earth, boulders and splintered trees that had rocked Yambali, a village of nearly 4,000 people 370 miles northwest of the capital, Port Moresby.

Seven people, including a child, received medical treatment, said Aktoprak. He had no information about the severity of their injuries.

“It is feared that the number of casualties and injuries will rise dramatically,” said Aktoprak, who is based in Port Moresby.

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape said on Friday he would release information on the extent of the destruction and loss of life as soon as it was available.

All the vegetable gardens that support the village’s subsistence farming were destroyed, and the three streams that provide drinking water to the village were blocked by the landslide. The province’s main road was also blocked.

A convoy left the provincial capital of Wabag, bringing food, water and other essential supplies to the devastated village 35 miles away, Aktoprak said.

Villager Andrew Ruing said the survivors were in great distress.

“People cannot cry or do anything because it is too difficult for them,” Ruing said in an Australian Broadcasting Corp. video. “Because this situation has never happened in history. And that is why we are calling on the national government, the local people, the businesses and the top authorities everywhere to ask for help.”

Aktoprak said that in addition to food and water, villagers were in urgent need of shelter and blankets. The aid will be targeted at the most vulnerable, including children, women, the disabled and the elderly, he said.

Relief efforts have been delayed by the blockade of the province’s main highway, which leads to the Porgera gold mine and the neighboring town of Porgera.

The 6 to 8 meter high debris from the landslide also caused power outages in the region, said Aktoprak.

The unstable ground posed a risk to relief efforts and communities further down the mountain.

Papua New Guinea is a diverse developing country, with a population predominantly made up of subsistence farmers and 800 languages ​​spoken. There are few roads outside of the larger cities.

With 10 million inhabitants, it is the most populous country in the South Pacific after Australia with about 27 million inhabitants.

The United States and Australia are building closer defense ties with the strategically important country, while China is seeking closer security and economic ties with the country.

President Biden and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said their governments stood ready to help respond to the landslide.

Biden, who was scheduled to become the first sitting U.S. president to visit Papua New Guinea a year ago but canceled the trip to focus on the debt crisis in Congress, said the loss of life and devastation broke his heart.

“Our prayers are with all the families affected by this tragedy and all the first responders who are putting themselves in harm’s way to help their fellow citizens,” Biden said in a statement.

“The United States stands today and always with Papua New Guinea – our close partner and friend,” Biden added.

On the social media platform X, Albanese posted: “All Australians mourn the loss of our brothers and sisters in Papua New Guinea following the horrific landslide.”

Australia is Papua New Guinea’s closest neighbour and its most generous donor of foreign aid.

McGuirk writes for the Associated Press.