Emergency convoy takes provisions to Papua New Guinea survivors

Melbourne, Australia, May 26: An emergency convoy was delivering food, water and other provisions Saturday to stunned survivors of a landslide that devastated a remote village in the mountains of Papua New Guinea and was feared to have buried scores of people, officials said.

An assessment team reported “suggestions” that 100 people were dead and 60 houses buried by the mountainside that collapsed in Enga province a few hours before dawn Friday, said Serhan Aktoprak, the chief of the International Organization for Migration’s mission in the South Pacific island nation.

Aktoprak conceded that if the number of buried houses estimated by local authorities was correct, the death toll could be higher.

“The scale is so big, I wouldn’t be surprised if there would be more casualties than the earlier reported 100,” Aktoprak said. “If 60 houses had been destroyed, then the number of casualties would definitely be much higher than the 100."

Only three bodies had been recovered by early Saturday from the vast swath of earth, boulders and splintered trees that struck Yambali, a village of nearly 4,000 people that is 600 kilometres (370 miles) northwest of the capital, Port Moresby.

Medical treatment was provided to seven people, including a child, Aktoprak said. He had no information about the extent of their injuries.

“It is feared that the number of casualties and wounded will increase dramatically,” said Aktoprak, who is based in Port Moresby.

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape said Friday he would release information about the scale of the destruction and loss of life when it becomes available.

All food gardens that sustain the village's subsistence farming population were destroyed and the three streams that provide drinking water were buried by the landslide, which also blocked the province’s main highway.

A convoy left the provincial capital of Wabag carrying food, water and other essentials to the devastated village 60 kilometres (35 miles) away, Aktoprak said.

Village local Andrew Ruing said the survivors were in desperate need.

“People — they cannot cry or they cannot do anything, because it’s difficult for them,” Ruing said in a video shown by Australian Broadcasting Corp. “Because such a situation has never happened in history. And therefore, we are calling on the national government, the people on the ground, or the business houses, the heights from everywhere, anywhere — we are seeking assistance from.” (AP)