Media in the Pacific nation said Friday's landslide buried more than 300 people and more than 1,100 homes when it flattened the village of Kaokalam in Enga province, about 600 kilometers northwest of the capital Port Moresby.
The United Nations office in Papua New Guinea said in a statement that three bodies had been recovered from the area where 50 to 60 homes were destroyed. Six people, including a child, had been pulled alive from the rubble. They said many more buried people were still unaccounted for as search and rescue efforts continued.
The Australian aid group CARE said late on Saturday that nearly 4,000 people lived in the affected area but the number was likely to be higher as the area was “a shelter for people displaced by conflict” in neighbouring areas.
At least 26 men were previously killed in Enga province in February by an ambush amid inter-tribal violence.
The landslide left deep craters covering 200 square kilometers, cutting off roads and complicating relief efforts. CARE said helicopters were the only way to reach the area, adding that more homes would be at risk if more landslides occurred due to the unstable terrain.
Hong Hanh (according to Reuters)
Source: https://www.congluan.vn/ba-thi-the-duoc-tim-thay-sau-vu-lo-dat-nghiem-trong-o-papua-new-guinea-post296925.html
Comment (0)