In this image taken from video, drone footage shows the landslide in Yambali village, in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea, on May 29, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Papua New Guinea’s prime minister on May 31 visited the site of a major landslide, which is estimated to have buried hundreds of villagers in the South Pacific island nation’s mountainous interior a week ago and left the ground too unstable for heavy earthmoving machines to help clear up the mess.

James Marape told hundreds who had gathered near the devastated Yambali village that the list of governments and world leaders who had sent their condolences included the United States, China, India, France, Malaysia and the Czech Republic. First on the list was U.K. King Charles III, Papua New Guinea’s constitutional head of state.

“My people are simple people. I want to say thank you for them to the global friends of PNG,” Mr. Marape said.

The first mechanized excavator arrived at the scene on Sunday, but it hasn’t been permitted to start removing the boulders, rocks and splintered trees that have buried a 150-to-200-meter (500-to-650-foot) stretch of the Enga province’s main highway.

The nation’s military had expected up to 10 excavators and bulldozers to be on the scene this week to help villagers who have used spades and farming tools to painstakingly retrieve bodies from the rubble, but have so far only found seven.

The United Nations estimates that 670 villagers died in the disaster, which immediately displaced 1,650 survivors. Papua New Guinea’s government has told the United Nations it thinks more than 2,000 people were buried.

Mr. Marape said that geotechnical reports in recent days found the area remains unstable.

“That’s why we haven’t used heavy machinery in case it triggers something,” Mr. Marape said. “A full assessment of the stability of the place will be carried out before we use heavy machinery.” A dispute between local landowners and a nearby gold mine, plus the sensitivities of grieving villagers, are also obstacles to the mechanized removal of a huge quantity of debris.

Enga Gov. Peter Ipatas has urged local landowners not to deny access to the disaster site to earthmoving equipment owned by the Porgera Gold Mine, which is 30 kilometers (19 miles) away, as part of their financial dispute with the mine’s owner.

The mine has been isolated by the landslide and has offered equipment to help clear the highway.

The mine’s manger, Karo Lelai, confirmed that an offer had been made, but didn’t respond to questions from The Associated Press about what equipment had been proposed and what the obstacles were to its deployment.

Local politician Jaman Yadam told the country’s The National newspaper that unless the mine’s owner met the landowners’ financial demands, “the landslip site will remain a mass burial site, cutting off road access to the mine.” Some of the disaster survivors want the highway debris left as a memorial where they can place flowers to remember their dead, the International Organization for Migration reported.

Angela Kearney, who leads UNICEF in Papua New Guinea, visited Yambali on Friday and said that she was concerned by the traumatized children’s unwillingness to interact.

More than 40% than of the region’s population is under 16 years old, and around half of Papua New Guinea’s children are undernourished, UNICEF said.

“A shock like this can turn them into severe-acute malnutrition very quickly, so we need to get supplies and trained people to make sure we measure the kids, and we look at the most vulnerable ones very quickly,” Ms. Kearney said.

This photo released by UNDP Papua New Guinea shows a landslide in Yambali village, in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea on May 27, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape on May 29 blamed “extraordinary rainfall” and changes to weather patterns for multiple disasters in the Pacific Island nation this year, including a landslide last week which may have killed thousands.

Parts of a mountain in the Maip-Mulitaka area in Enga province in PNG’s north collapsed in the early hours of last Friday and Mr. Marape said more than 2,000 people are estimated to have died, with up to 70,000 people living in the area impacted by the disaster.

Also Read | Papua New Guinea orders thousands to evacuate from path of ‘active’ landslide

“Our people in that village went to sleep for the last time, not knowing they would breathe their last breath as they were sleeping peacefully. Nature threw a disastrous landslip, submerged or covered the village,” Mr. Marape told parliament on Wednesday.

Natural disasters have cost the country more than 500 million kina ($126 million) this year, before the landslide at Enga, he said.

“This year, we had extraordinary rainfall that has caused flooding in river areas, sea level rise in coastal areas and landslips in a few areas,” Mr. Marape said.

“We have faced extraordinary weather patterns and changes from dryness to wetness,” he added.

Deputy Prime Minister John Rosso said: “The climate change effects that are here now is not just in Enga, for the last two months we have seen unprecedented disasters throughout the country.”

Defence Minister Billy Joseph arrived in Enga on Wednesday with relief supplies provided by Australia, the government said. Military personnel from Australia and New Zealand would help with the relief and reconstruction.

PNG on Wednesday ramped up rescue efforts, while authorities raised concerns about the outbreak of diseases amid warnings of further landslides. Thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate amid further earth slips in the mountain.

Slow rescue

Rescue teams have been slow to reach the site because of the treacherous terrain and tribal unrest in the remote area, forcing the military to escort convoys of relief teams.

The landslide had hit a section of highway near the Porgera gold mine, operated by Barrick Gold through Barrick Niugini Ltd, its joint venture with China’s Zijin Mining. The miner said its operations were not affected.

Mr. Marape said the government was working with Mr. Barrick to reopen the road. Mr. Barrick said it had offered the government more heavy equipment at the slip site.

The United Nations, in its latest update, said a bridge had collapsed on Tuesday on the main road toward the disaster area, potentially delaying rescue teams reaching the site.

The U.N. migration agency has warned of an outbreak of infectious diseases if immediate steps are not taken.

“Every passing minute, bodies buried under the debris are decaying, with water squeezed between the ground and the vast debris covering an area of three to four football fields is continuing to leak, this is posing a high health risk,” Serhan Aktoprak, the chief of the agency’s mission in Papua New Guinea said in an emailed statement.