Landslide in Papua New Guinea.
Melbourne: The United Nations agency has predicted a large number of people to have died in the landslide in Papua New Guinea. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimated on Sunday that 670 people are feared dead due to the massive landslide in Papua New Guinea. Whereas local officials had said on Friday that 100 people are feared dead due to the landslide. Serhan Aktoprak, head of the UN Migration Agency’s mission in the South Pacific island nation, said that the revised death toll is based on the calculation of Yambali village and Enga provincial officials that more than 150 houses have been buried due to the landslide on Friday, while earlier 60 houses were estimated to be buried.
“They are estimating that more than 670 people are buried under the mud,” Aktoprak told the Associated Press (AP). Local officials on Friday feared 100 people may have died in the landslide. By Sunday, only five bodies and a leg of another person had been recovered. Rescue operations continued in Papua New Guinea on Sunday as rescue workers were evacuating survivors to safer places.
People may be buried under 20 to 26 feet of debris
Aktoprak said aid workers have given up hope of finding people alive under soil and debris six to eight meters (20 to 26 feet) deep. Meanwhile, the South Pacific island’s government is considering whether it needs to officially request more international support. People were buried in a landslide on Friday in Enga province, about 600 kilometers northwest of the country’s capital, Port Moresby. (AP)
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