People cross over the landslide area to get to the other side in Yambali village, Papua New Guinea, on Friday.Credit: IOM/AP
He said the area affected covered the size of three to four football fields, and that the village was home to 3895 people. He said some houses in the village were spared, but the total number of casualties was not yet known.
Aktoprak spoke by phone from the capital, Port Moresby.
Water was inaccessible in the affected area, power lines were down, and villagers were likely to struggle with accessing food, Aktoprak said. “Immediate needs are shelter, other non-food items [like] blankets and bedsheets, food and drinking water,” he added.
“Everyone is desperately looking for missing family members,” he said. “My fear is that the death toll could be very high,” the New York Times quoted him as saying.
More than six villages had been impacted by the landslide in the province’s Mulitaka region, Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said on Saturday.
“Australia’s High Commission in Port Moresby is in close contact with PNG authorities for further assessments on the extent of the damage and casualties,” a DFAT spokesperson said in a statement.
ABC had earlier named the affected village as Kaokalam. CARE Australia confirmed the reports of a landslide in Yambali village. In a statement, it said highway access near Yambali was obstructed and hindering assessment and relief efforts.
An injured person is carried on a stretcher to seek medical assistance after a landslide in Yambali village, PNG.Credit: IOM/AP
Prime Minister James Marape said authorities were responding and that he would release information about the destruction and loss of life when it was available.
“I am yet to be fully briefed on the situation. However, I extend my heartfelt condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the landslide disaster in the early hours of this morning,” Marape said in a statement.
“We are sending in disaster officials, PNG Defence Force, and the Department of Works and Highways to ... start relief work, recovery of bodies, and reconstruction of infrastructure,” he added.
Australia, Papua New Guinea’s most generous provider of foreign aid, said the government stood ready to help.
“All Australians grieve for our brothers and sisters in Papua New Guinea after the terrible landslide,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on X on Saturday.
“We send our deepest condolences to those affected. Australia stands ready to assist.”
Earlier Foreign Minister Penny Wong posted: “The loss of life and destruction is devastating. As friends and partners, Australia stands ready to assist in relief and recovery efforts.”
Videos on social media showed residents pulling bodies from under rocks and trees.
Belinda Kora, a Port Moresby-based ABC reporter, on Friday said helicopters were the only way of accessing the village, which is in the mountainous interior region known as the Highlands.
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Telecommunications are poor in the country, particularly outside Port Moresby, where government data show 56 per cent of the nation’s social media users reside. Only 1.66 million people across the country use the internet and 85 per cent of the population lives in rural areas.
Reuters, AP