Papua New Guinea Landslide Buried 670 people – UN Official

Not fewer than 670 people are estimated to be buried after a massive landslide hit Papua New Guinea, a UN official said on Monday.

The head of the International Organization for Migration in the country, Serhan Aktoprak, said the impact of the landslide which occurred on Friday in the isolated Enga province was greater than initially thought.

"There are an estimated 150-plus houses now buried," Mr Aktoprak said.

Mr Aktoprak said rescuers were at risk because "the land still sliding" and "rocks are still falling".

"The water is running and this is creating a massive risk for everyone involved," he said.

In addition, local residents have been forced to abandon 250 homes in areas not directly affected by the landslide after cracks began to appear in the ground.

Care Australia, the humanitarian agency which is helping with relief efforts, warned that the number affected was "likely to be higher" because of an influx of people escaping tribal conflicts in neighbouring areas.

 The landslide happened at around 03:00 local time on Friday (17:00 GMT on Thursday), when people were more likely to be sleeping.

"We still don’t know the exact number of fatalities from the landslide, and may not know for some time," said a spokesperson for Care Australia.

"However, the time that the landslide occurred suggests that the death toll will rise."

By Sunday, just five bodies had been recovered alongside the partial remains of another.

Mr Aktoprak said  there were a number of challenges facing teams trying to recover bodies, including reluctance by some grieving relatives to let heavy machinery near their loved ones.

Papua New Guinea has a population of more than 11.7 million people. With around 850 indigenous languages, it is the most linguistically diverse country on Earth, according to the World Bank.