ALBAWABA - A UN official spoke to AFP regarding the devastating situation in Papua New Guinea and stated that at least 670 people had been killed as landslides ravaged a village in the Pacific country.
Chief of Mission at the UN's International Organization of Migration (IOM), Serhan Aktoprak, said that more than 150 houses have been buried under the savage landslides and 670+ people are presumed dead.
"The situation is terrible with the land still sliding. The water is running and this is creating a massive risk for everyone involved," added Aktoprak.
"People are using digging sticks, spades, large agricultural forks to remove the bodies buried under the soil," Aktoprak stated. He said that the disaster had caused more than 1,000 people to be homeless and that water supplies and food gardens had nearly totally disappeared.
At first, officials and humanitarian organizations believed that between 100 and 300 individuals might have died in the landslide. Disaster relief personnel on the ground discovered more people were residing in the community than first thought, hence the death toll was increased, according to Aktoprak.
With a population of about 4,000, the village functioned as a center for trade for alluvial miners searching for gold in the surrounding mountains. By Saturday night, five bodies had been recovered from the wreckage.
Locals believe the landslide was caused by heavy rains that have drenched the region in recent weeks. Images showed barefoot workers digging the dirt with shovels and axes, while others sifted among the crumpled mounds of damaged houses and shops in the area.
According to the World Bank, Papua New Guinea has one of the world's wettest climates, with the heaviest rainfall concentrated in the tropical highlands.
