Over 2000 individuals are currently stuck in Papua New Guinea.
Barefoot and with shovels, residents in Papua New Guinea are frantically digging through the earth in search of those buried. Following a terrible landslide, time is of the essence; it's estimated that over 2000 people are still trapped under the ground.
The national disaster management in Papua New Guinea has reported that over 2000 individuals have been buried alive due to a landslide in their country. A letter was sent to the United Nations, detailing the aftermath of the incident that took place in a remote area of the South Pacific island nation on Friday.
Rescue teams continue to battle against the clock, weary as they attempt to free any survivors from the mess of earth and rocks. Serhan Aktoprak, the head of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) mission in Papua New Guinea, shared with Australian broadcaster AAP, "All we can hope for is that we can contribute to saving more lives in the little time we have left." Time, unfortunately, is not on their side.
Excavating through the rubble and rocks is a challenging task, as there are still rockslides and flowing water obstructing their path. In footage captured at the disaster scene, people can be seen scrambling to search for relatives and friends amongst the enormous piles of debris, their only tools being shovels.
Aktoprak predicted on Sunday that the death toll would rise to at least 670. Most of the houses in the village were buried roughly six to eight meters deep, with villages like Yambali in the isolated province of Enga being completely entombed by the landslide. Residents in these areas were sleeping when, without warning, half of a mountain suddenly tumbled down, burying them in the chaos.
Several individuals in Australia have rallied to help their neighbors. As reported by the Australian broadcaster ABC, Defense Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles confirmed that they've been in close contact with their Papua New Guinean counterparts since Friday, discussing how best to provide aid. Due to the region's seclusion, relief workers can likely only reach the area by plane. "This is a tragedy," Marles stated. "Our two countries are closely connected, and have always supported each other during natural disasters. It's what we're doing now."
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The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement has urged for international aid to support the relief efforts in Papua New Guinea, given the large scale of the natural disaster. Due to the remote location of the affected area, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and other international organizations are working closely with the Papua New Guinean government to coordinate the delivery of much-needed supplies and resources.
Source: www.ntv.de
