Around 2,000 people buried under landslides in Papua New Guinea

FILE: Dawn at Sibilanga, Papua New Guinea (Photo: John Slapcinsky/Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0 DEED)

ISTANBUL – Papua New Guinea has estimated that around 2,000 people were buried after landslides hit a remote village last Friday.

In a letter to the UN, the country’s disaster agency “estimates that more than 2,000 people could be buried under the rubble,” ABC News reported on Monday.

More than 150 houses have been buried in Yambali village alone, according to Serhan Aktoprak, an official of the UN migration agency mission in Papua New Guinea.

The affected areas are in the highlands of Enga province, north of the country in the southwest Pacific.

According to the UN office in the Pacific Island nation, around “670 people (were) missing but the exact number is to be ascertained as search and rescue efforts continue.”

It said: “Site’s remoteness, ongoing terrain movement and damage to access roads is slowing relief efforts.”

“Government authorities remain focused on clearing debris and improving access to the site,” the UN office added.