Body recovery effort ‘called off’ at Papua New Guinea landslide site
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Papua New Guinea is one of the world’s most disaster-prone regions and landslides are extremely common in its highlands.
PHOTO: AFP
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PORT MORESBY – The bodies of hundreds of villagers feared buried in a Papua New Guinea landslide
“All efforts to recover bodies have been called off because of the danger”, Major Joe Aku told AFP, citing the risk of further landslides.
“Recovery is non-negotiable at this stage,” he said, dashing survivors’ hopes of recovering loved ones.
Maj Aku – one of the leading military officers overseeing the site – declared the highland area a “no-go zone”.
It will be cordoned off to the community and the authorities until further notice.
Papua New Guinea’s government estimates 2,000 people may have been buried in a 600m-long mountain of soil and boulders that engulfed a remote community in Enga province.
Maj Aku said the toll could be closer to 650. Makeshift recovery efforts unearthed just nine bodies, according to the local health authorities.
With the recovery effort now called off, the true toll of the disaster will most likely never be known.
“It is too dangerous to be on-site at this stage. This is the worst and biggest landslide I have seen,” said Maj Aku.
Papua New Guinea is one of the world’s most disaster-prone regions and landslides are extremely common in its highlands.
But the estimated 7,849 villagers near Mount Mungalo, in central Papua New Guinea, were not prepared for the landslide that buried families and their homes in the early hours of May 24.
While Ms Edlyn Yaki managed to escape, her husband, father and three children were buried.
She sat in a white makeshift aid tent, dressed in black clothes that others had given her. She had lost everything.
“I saw the other families who had fled, I was certain that I would see some of my family members. But unfortunately, all my family had been covered by the landslide,” Ms Yaki told United Nations Development Programme Papua New Guinea.
After digging for 10 days and nights, she finally found the bodies of two of her children and her husband.
“But my daughter, we still haven’t found. She is still buried under the rocks,” Ms Yaki said.
“At this stage I can’t do anything but grieve.”
Further risk of landslides
An internal report by Papua New Guinea’s mining and geohazards department, obtained by AFP on June 4, warned there was a “high likelihood of further landslides”
The report warned the recovery efforts could provoke another landslide, and the relocation of villagers should be “non-negotiable”.
In particular, there was concern that the use of recently arrived heavy machinery could topple boulders perched above.
“Movement or vibration from the machinery will set these boulders into motion,” the report warned.
Surrounding communities have been evacuated due to the risk, with many taking refuge in nearby “care centres”, Mr Aku said.
They are relying on aid from agencies or partner countries to survive.
Aid efforts were severely hampered by the site’s remote location, nearby tribal violence and landslide damage that has severed major road links.
Maj Aku added that discussions were under way with the community and local authorities about a possible memorial for those “buried under the rubble”. AFP
