The government of Papua New Guinea has declared that a landslide occurring on Friday resulted in over 2,000 citizens tragically buried alive, thereby prompting an urgent plea for international assistance. This figure, threefold higher than the United Nations’ own approximation of 670, remains a subject of contention. As this catastrophic event transpired, estimations of the affected population have differed drastically and it was unclear how officials determined the final count.
As reported by the Associated Press, a correspondence to the United Nations resident coordinator was sighted. It was dated Sunday and penned by the acting director of Papua New Guinea’s National Disaster Centre. The content depicted major devastation and recorded over 2,000 fatalities, unfortunately, buried alive by the landslide.
Australia, a close neighbour to Papua New Guinea, is preparing to dispatch aircraft and requisite equipment to offer assistance at the misfortunate site. There is, however, rising apprehension that the debris, which has already claimed the lives of countless villagers, might turn perilously unstable due to poor weather and nocturnal rain in the mountainous terrain of the south Pacific nation.
Richard Marles, the defence minister of Australia, has been in discourse with his Papua New Guinean counterparts since the fatal landslide took down the mountainside, engulfing Yambali village located in Enga province. The nature of the support offered by Australia will become apparent in the coming days according to Marles, pointing towards a potential deployment of airlift capacity and other special equipment aiding the search and rescue operations.
Australia and Papua New Guinea are forming robust defence relations, a strategic move by Australia to supersede China’s expanding influence in the region. Papua New Guinea, which gained independence in 1975, lists Australia as its most substantial foreign aid provider.
In the aftermath of the disaster, the provincial capital of Wabag experienced heavy rainfall for two hours overnight. The township, situated a mere 35 miles (56km) from the afflicted village, is plagued with limited communication infrastructure, making an immediate weather report from Yambali unattainable.
Emergency response teams are becoming increasingly apprehensive about the potential impact of rainfall on the unsteady debris, ranging from six to eight meters deep and spanning an area equivalent to three to four American football fields. The first heavy earth-moving machinery, an excavator, was contributed by a local builder on Sunday, to aid locals who had been using basic farming tools and shovels in their desperate search for bodies amongst the hazardous, shifting wreckage.
The chief of the International Organisation for Migration’s mission in Papua New Guinea, Serhan Aktoprak, highlighted that water leaking between the wreckage and the soil beneath was exacerbating the risk of additional landslides. He shared his deep personal concern about the weather conditions, as he wouldn’t have precise information on it until Monday afternoon. He was particularly concerned as landslides continued and debris was still falling.
An Australian defence helicopter facilitated a visit by Laso Mana, the director of the National Disaster Centre, and Billy Joseph, the country’s defence minister, to the region from the capital Port Moresby. This visit aimed to determine if there’s a need for the Papua New Guinean government to formally ask for more global aid. A post on Mr. Mana’s office’s social media featured him giving a cheque worth 500,000 kina (€119,775) to a local official in Yambali for emergency provisions for the approximately 4,000 evacuees.
Ground-excavating gear used by the military of Papua New Guinea was moved to the disaster location, nearly 400 kilometers away from Lae, a city on the east coast. Officials noticed that local residents, shaken up by the calamity, were divided about the use of heavy equipment to unearth, and possibly further damage the bodies of their buried family members.