Hundreds of people were killed in a devastating landslide in Papua New Guinea

Hundreds of people are thought to have perished in a catastrophic landslip that slammed isolated settlements in Papua New Guinea, according to reports from local authorities and relief organizations.

Around 03:00 local time on Friday (or 17:00 GMT on Thursday), a landslip in the highlands of Enga, north of the island nation in the south-west Pacific, buried more than 100 dwellings.

The number of victims buried beneath the debris was not immediately apparent.

It was a “unprecedented natural disaster,” according to Enga governor Peter Ipatas, who spoke with the AFP news agency.

A neighborhood leader named Andrew Ruing told the Reuters news agency that the landslip occurred while people were asleep. He declared, “The rubble and rocks have covered more than 300 lives.”

“Food, gardens, people, and properties worth more than millions have been lost, covered by all these things,” he added.

Business leader Elizabeth Iarume told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that “the entire village had gone down.”

Villager Ninga Role also said he believed hundreds had died. The scale of the landslide was also making it hard to rescue any survivors, he said.

“The area covered by the landslide is large and there are rocks and trees everywhere,” Role told Reuters by phone. “It’s very difficult to get them out.”

Humanitarian organization Care Australia said in a statement: “While the area is not densely populated, our concern is that the death toll could be disproportionately high.”

It stated that “this will hinder assessment and relief efforts” because clearing the road will take a long time.

Disaster officials have been dispatched to the location, according to Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape, in order to “start relief work, recovery of bodies, and reconstruction of infrastructure.”

In videos, people are seen clambering over rocks to get to the buried people.

In a video uploaded by Facebook user Kindupan Kambii from Kaokalam village in Enga, people can be heard sobbing and shouting.

A team comprising representatives from the provincial governor’s office, law enforcement, the armed forces, and non-governmental organizations in the area has been dispatched to the location, according to the Red Cross Society of Papua New Guinea.

The distance by road between Enga and Port Moresby, the nation’s capital, is more than 600 kilometres (372 miles).

Source: BBC