According to some local sources there would be more than one hundred victims, but the number is uncertain and there is no official data. The phenomenon occurred in a remote area, which makes the work of rescuers difficult. The causes are unknown, experts rule out heavy rains or earthquakes. One of the hypotheses would be the excavation and extraction operations of a gold mine in the area.
Port Moresby () – Dozens of people, perhaps more than a hundred according to some unconfirmed estimates, died this morning due to a landslide that buried a village in a remote, mountainous area of Papua New Guinea. The isolation of the area is one of the reasons why the death toll is uncertain and emergency interventions and the work of rescuers face serious difficulties in finding survivors.
The avalanche covered much of the village of Kaokalam, in Enga province, about 600 kilometers northwest of the capital, Port Moresby, at around 3 a.m. local time, Australian broadcaster ABC reported. Local sources reported by the media spoke of an approximate balance of more than 100 victims, but the authorities have not yet confirmed the number, in a context of deep uncertainty. Residents of the area claim that the number of victims would be much higher.
Prime Minister James Marape stated that authorities are providing an emergency response and will release detailed information, including human lives lost, as soon as it is available. “I have not yet been informed about the situation. However, I offer my deepest condolences – added the head of Government – to the families of the people who lost their lives in the landslide disaster that occurred early this morning. “We are sending officials specialized in disasters, the PNG Defense Forces and the Department of Highways to… begin relief work, recover bodies and rebuild infrastructure,” Marape concluded.
Videos circulating on social media show residents recovering bodies buried under rocks and trees. Elizabeth Laruma, who heads an association of businesswomen in Porgera, a town in the same province near the Porgera gold mine, said houses were buried when a mountainside gave way. “It happened when people were still sleeping, in the early hours of the morning, and the whole town was devastated,” she Laruma said. “From what I can guess, there are more than 100 people left underground.”
The landslide disrupted the road between Porgera and the village, raising concerns about the supply of fuel and provisions to the town. ABC correspondent Belinda Kora said from Port Moresby that helicopters were the only way to access the village, which is in a mountainous inland region known as the Highlands, whose main road has been blocked.
Outside of natural causes, several hypotheses are being proposed about the origin of the disaster. One of them was formulated by geologist Dave Petley, recognized as a world leader in the study and management of landslides. “At first glance, this is a major collapse of a rocky slope that has turned into an avalanche of rocks and debris. There is no indication – he explains on his blog – that there has been a triggering event, such as heavy rain or an earthquake. It will be interesting to know if the slope was subjected to mining or quarry extraction work, which would imply the hand of man as the origin of the accident. “You can observe the very steep and flat surface at the back of the landslide scar. and also on the left side. This suggests to me – he concludes – that the landslide has mobilized planes of weakness already existing in the rock mass.”
Papua New Guinea is a multi-ethnic, developing country, whose population is made up mostly of subsistence farmers who speak nearly 800 different languages, and with few roads outside the largest cities. With 10 million inhabitants, it is also the most populous country in the South Pacific after Australia, which has about 27 million.
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