Papua New Guinea landslide: 2,000 feared buried by massive landslide

CNN
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It is feared that 2,000 people may have been buried in the past week Massive landslide In Papua New Guinea, rescue workers are struggling to find survivors in a remote area, according to the country’s national disaster center.

The landslide hit the mountainous Enga region in northern Papua New Guinea on Friday and the latest toll is a sharp rise from earlier estimates.

Immediately after the disaster, the United Nations said 100 people may have died. This was later revised up to 670, according to an estimate by the head of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in the country.

But that may now be a major underestimate, according to the latest projections from Papua New Guinea’s disaster agency.

“The landslide left more than 2,000 people alive, destroyed buildings, food gardens and severely affected the country’s economic livelihood,” National Disaster Center Executive Director Lucette Laso Mana said in a letter to the UN.

“The situation is unstable as the landslide is moving slowly, posing danger to rescue teams and survivors alike,” he added, adding that the main highway to the area has been completely blocked by the landslide.

“Following an investigation by the team, it was determined that the damages were extensive and required immediate and collective action from all players.”

Landslide A distant Kakalam village was attackedAbout 600 kilometers (372 miles) northwest of the capital, Port Moresby, at 3 a.m. local time on Friday, humanitarian workers said it left a trail of debris. Four football fields.

More than 150 houses in Yambali village were buried under the rubble, officials said on Sunday. Officials said the area continues to pose a “serious risk” as the rock continues to fall, exposing the subsoil to ever-increasing pressure.

Papua New Guinea is home to about 10 million people. Access to the affected area is difficult due to its vast mountainous terrain and lack of roads.

Pierre Rognon, an associate professor at the University of Sydney’s School of Civil Engineering, said finding rescuers after landslides was “particularly challenging”.

“Landslides can bury people under collapsed structures and dozens of meters of geomaterial,” he said.

“To make matters worse, they can move structures and trap people hundreds of meters away. No one can predict exactly where survivors might be and where to look for them.

It is not clear what caused the landslide, but Geology Professor Alan Collins from the University of Adelaide said it occurred in an area with “significant rainfall”.

“Although landslides do not appear to be directly induced by earthquakes, frequent earthquakes caused by plate collisions create steep slopes and high mountains that become more unstable,” Collins said.

Precipitation may have altered the rock-forming minerals, weakening the rock that forms the steep mountain ranges, he said.

“Vegetation mitigates this because tree roots can stabilize the land and deforestation can make landslides more likely by destroying this biological mesh,” he said.