Papua New Guinea’s prime minister, James Marape, has made his first visit to a remote village hit by a deadly landslide last week and thanked international aid donors for their support.
Authorities are still struggling to determine how many people are buried under parts of a mountain which collapsed on to the Yambali village in the remote Enga region on 24 May.
The UN estimated 670 villagers died in the disaster that immediately displaced 1,650 survivors. The country’s government has told the UN it thinks more than 2,000 people were buried. Only six bodies have been retrieved.
Marape apologised to residents for not visiting earlier, the Papua New Guinea Post Courier reported. “I’m sorry,” Marape was cited as saying. “The country is with you in your time of sorrow.”
He has pledged 20m kina ($5.1m) for emergency response and initial recovery measures.
Marape also inspected the disaster site by helicopter, the UN migration agency said.
The Enga Provincial Disaster Committee (EPDC) said on 29 May the landslide had affected up to 7,500 people and destroyed 1,400 homes. The EPDC said the recovery operation, which requires heavy machinery and technical expertise, had been frustrated by difficult conditions as the area is covered in rocks and experiencing ongoing earth movements.
Government and army geotechnical experts on Thursday were examining the stability of the rubble that crushed Yambali, the Enga provincial administrator Sandis Tsaka said. Australian and New Zealand experts were expected to arrive on Friday.
Two excavators and a bulldozer were ready to start digging on one side of the mass of debris more than 150 metres (500ft) wide while another excavator and a bulldozer were also ready on the other side, Tsaka said. Villagers have been digging with spades, farming tools and their bare hands since the disaster in search of survivors or bodies.
Tony Sulupin, chair of the Lagaip Poverty Relievers Association, visited the disaster site on Wednesday. His organisation is based in Enga province and works with aid agencies and government to deliver community projects.
Sulupin said the landslide fragmented a nearby rock formation, sending pieces cascading down and submerging most of Yambali village. He said the land in the affected area was still cracking and the ongoing instability posed further risks to people and recovery operations. The density of housing and the timing of the disaster – which struck while most residents were asleep – significantly reduced their chance of survival.
Sulupin said the high death toll was also due in part to a tribal conflict five years ago, resulting in many people fleeing from a nearby village and resettling in Yambali. That transformed the village into a densely populated area with newly built houses, stores, a guest house and bus services.
Authorities say up to 8,000 people might need to be evacuated as the mass of boulders, earth and splintered trees in the area threaten to tumble further downhill.
There is also a growing disease risk for those downhill from water streams buried beneath rubble and decomposing corpses that continue to seep from the debris. Tsaka said only 700 people had agreed to evacuate on Wednesday.
Relief supplies – including medical, sanitation and food – have been provided by aid groups and local businesses.
Elizabeth Thomas, spokesperson for local civil society group Tandani Empowerment Association, said displaced people urgently needed warm clothing, bedding, clean water and cooking utensils.
Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report
