Image source, Reuters
A United Nations official has said that 670 people are feared trapped under debris in a massive landslide in Papua New Guinea on Friday.
Serhan Aktoprak, head of the International Organization for Migration in Papua New Guinea, said the scale of the devastation caused by Friday’s landslide in the country’s remote Enga province was far greater than expected.
“According to an estimate, more than 150 houses are buried under the debris,” he said.
Papua New Guinea is an island located north of Australia and the areas affected by the landslide are in the high altitude area of Enga Province in the north.
Aktoprak said that “the ground is still sliding” and the lives of rescue workers are at risk. “Water is also flowing continuously, which poses a huge threat to all those working in the area.”
About 4,000 people were living in the landslide affected area.
But the Care Australia agency involved in relief and rescue work believes that this number could be higher because many people had come to this area to escape tribal conflict in neighboring areas.
1,000 people have been displaced due to this natural disaster.
Aktoprak said the land where crops were grown and water was supplied had almost completely sunk.
Image source, Getty Images
The landslide occurred at 3.00 am local time on Friday (17.00 GMT Thursday), when most people were sleeping in their homes.
“The exact number of casualties in the landslide is still unknown and may be difficult to ascertain for some time,” a Care Australia spokesperson said.
“However, given the timing of the landslide, it appears the death toll could rise further.”
Aktoprak said rescue workers were doing everything possible to recover victims. “People are using pickaxes, shovels and every agricultural tool they can find to clear the rubble and recover the bodies,” he said.
Image source, Getty Images
Till Sunday, only five bodies could be recovered from the debris.
In some areas, debris from large rocks, trees and sunken soil is up to 26 feet high.
Only one highway reaches Enga province. Care Australia says a large portion of this road has been covered by landslides, making rescue operations extremely difficult.
According to news agency AFP, big machines are expected to reach here by Sunday to remove the debris.
Image source, STR/AFP via Getty Images
India’s relations with Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea came into the news last year when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived there after attending the G-7 summit in Japan.
Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape himself came to welcome him at the airport.
According to a report by news agency Reuters, the population of Papua New Guinea is around 9 million.
According to a press note issued by the Ministry of External Affairs on the relations between the two countries, around 3000 Indians live in Papua New Guinea. However, this figure is till 2020.
Most of them are chartered accountants, university professors, school teachers and doctors.
India opened its High Commission in Papua New Guinea in April 1996. 10 years later, in 2006, Papua New Guinea also started its High Commission in India.
In 2016, Pranab Mukherjee was the first Indian President to visit Papua New Guinea.
When the corona pandemic was at its peak across the world and major vaccine-producing countries were banning its export, India had provided 1 lakh 31 thousand doses of corona vaccine to Papua Guinea.
Papua New Guinea Islands
Papua New Guinea is frequently hit by volcanoes, earthquakes and storms.
According to the World Bank, it is counted among the most linguistically diverse countries in the world. There are more than 800 languages here.
Nearly 80 percent of Papua New Guinea’s population lives in rural areas with little or no facilities.
There are many tribes in remote hilly areas that are cut off from the outside world. These people make their living through farming.
In the year 1906, its control was handed over from Britain to Australia and in the year 1975, this country became completely independent from Australia.
James Morape is the supreme leader of Papua New Guinea.
