Over 2,000 people reportedly buried by a landslip in Papua New Guinea

A government official from Papua New Guinea has asked the United Nations for help after more than 2,000 people were buried alive in a landslide on Friday.

The government says about three times as many people died in the landslide in the mountainous part of the South Pacific island nation than the UN thought. Only six bodies have been found.

The head of the National Disaster Center in a South Pacific island wrote a letter to the United Nations saying that a landslide in Yambali village buried over 2,000 people and caused a lot of damage.

The number of people hurt or killed in the disaster has been hard to figure out because different sources are giving different numbers. It’s not clear how officials came up with the count.

The International Organization for Migration is working with the government and leading the international response. They have not changed their estimated death toll of 670 until they have new evidence.

“We can’t argue with what the government says, but we can’t give our opinion on it,” said Serhan Aktoprak, the head of the UN migrant agency’s mission in Papua New Guinea.

“As we continue with this huge project, the number of people involved may change,” Aktoprak explained.

The death toll of 670 was estimated by Yambali village and Enga provincial officials. They counted more than 150 homes buried by the landslide. The old prediction was 60 houses.

Prime Minister James Marape’s office didn’t answer on Monday when asked to explain where the government’s estimate of 2,000 came from. Marape said he will share information about how much damage and loss of life there is, when he knows more.

It’s hard to figure out how big the disaster is because the village is far away and there’s no good way to communicate. There’s also fighting between tribes in the area, so it’s not safe for aid workers to go there without military protection.

At least 26 tribal fighters and hired soldiers died in a fight between two fighting tribes in Enga in February, along with an unknown number of innocent people.

The national government doesn’t have accurate information about how many people might be dead, which makes it harder to figure out.

The government thinks that about 10 million people live in Papua New Guinea, but a study by the UN using satellite photos of rooftops suggests there could be as many as 17 million people in 2022. The country has not had a correct count of its population in many years.

The landslide covered a 650-foot section of the province’s main road with 20 to 26 feet of debris, making it difficult for rescue workers to pass through.

Mana said the landslide would have a big effect on the country’s economy.

“The ground keeps moving, which makes the situation not safe for the rescue teams and survivors,” Mana told the United Nations.

A local builder gave an excavator to the villagers on Sunday. It is the first big machine to help them find bodies, as they have been using shovels and farming tools for digging. Navigating through the moving debris is dangerous.

Mana and Papua New Guinea’s defense minister, Billy Joseph, took an Australian military helicopter from the capital Port Moresby to Yambali, which is 600 kilometers (370 miles) away, to see directly what is needed.

Mana’s office shared a picture of him giving a check for 500,000 kina (US$130,000) to a local official at Yambali. The money will be used to buy emergency supplies for 4,000 people who had to leave their homes.

The visit was to see if Papua New Guinea’s government needed to ask for more help from other countries.

Heavy vehicles used by Papua New Guinea’s military were being taken to the disaster area, which is 400 kilometers (250 miles) away from the east coast city of Lae.

Upset villagers can’t agree on whether it’s okay for big machines to dig up and possibly hurt the bodies of their buried family members, officials said.