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full screen People on site after the landslide in Yambali in the highlands of Enga province in Papua New Guinea. Photo: Kafuri Yaro/AP/TT
Rescue workers in Papua New Guinea are racing against time to find survivors after the landslide that nearly wiped out a village and is feared to have killed around 670 people.
The landslide occurred in Yambali in the highlands of Enga province shortly before dawn on Friday, burying a large number of houses along with the people sleeping in them.
– It has already been three days and seven hours since this disaster happened so this is basically a race against time, but to what extent we could bring people to safety is another question, says Serhan Aktoprak, Serhan Aktoprak at the UN migrant agency IOM in Papua New Guinea early Monday, adding that around 250 nearby homes have been evacuated as a precaution.
Rescue efforts are being hampered by unstable ground and by the fighting that has broken out along the only remaining route into the disaster area. Excavators were supposed to have arrived in the area on Sunday evening – but were delayed due to the violence, according to Aktoprak.
Papua New Guinea’s government is considering whether to request international assistance to deal with the situation.