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Drone Footage Shows Scale Of Destruction In Papua New Guinea Landslide

A mass of boulders, earth and splintered trees can be seen in new drone footage released Tuesday of the devastation from a landslide that wiped out a village in a remote part of Papua New Guinea.

People can be seen pacing back and forth searching for their loved ones in the shadow of the limestone mountainside, part of which sheared away Friday, devastating the village of Yambali in the South Pacific nation's remote highlands.

As they used shovels, sticks and their bare hands in the footage released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the hope of finding their loved ones alive in the tons of rubble becomes increasingly unlikely.

But moving heavy machinery into the area is proving difficult. Only one large digger has arrived in Yambali village because a collapsed bridge in the neighboring Western Highlands province has cut off the main highway, officials in the region said.

"The challenges we face in the aftermath of this tragedy are immense," Serhan Aktoprak, chief of the International Organization for Migration's mission in Papua New Guinea, said in a news release Tuesday.

"The area remains extremely dangerous due to ongoing land movement, and access is hindered by blocked roads, damaged infrastructure, and adverse weather conditions," he said.

In a separate interview with The Associated Press, he said a "whole community that was situated at the foot of the mountain has been buried," and hopes of saving them alive were "shrinking."

"We are hearing suggestions that another landslide can happen and maybe 8,000 people need to be evacuated," he added.

The Papua New Guinea government said Monday that more than 2,000 people were buried by the landslide, much higher than the United Nations' figure, which estimated the death toll at 670.

It might never be possible to determine the exact number of dead because a 2022 voter roll did not include individuals under 18, who make up a large percentage of the population. The last government census was in 2000.

The landslide was "one of the most severe" in years in an area plagued by earthquakes and other weather related disasters, Nicholas Booth, Papua New Guinea's resident representative for the UNDP, told NBC News on Monday.

"This is going to be slow and difficult work," he added.

The landslide, which occurred in the middle of the night, buried a 650-foot stretch of Enga province's main highway under debris 20 to 26 feet deep, creating a major obstacle to relief workers.

More than 2,000 people are feared buried in a Papua New Guinea landslide that destroyed a remote highland village, the government said May 27, as it pleaded for international help in the rescue effort.

A satellite image Tuesday shows the aftermath of a landslide in Yambali village in Papua New Guinea.Maxar Technologies / AFP - Getty Images

Only nine bodies have been recovered so far, according to the UNDP, which estimates that 150 structures have been buried.

Enga province has also been marred by tribal warfare creating another major hurdle for aid workers trying to remain in the area, forcing the military to escort convoys of relief teams.

Clean food and water, clothing, shelter items, kitchen utensils, medicine and hygiene kits and psychosocial support for survivors were required immediately, the UNDP said in a statement.

Itayi Viriri, regional spokesperson for the International Organization for Migration, told a news conference Tuesday that there were fears that bodies could contaminate the region's water supply.

"Any sources of clean drinking water further down the mountain where the landslide occurred will be contaminated," he said.

"This needs to be dealt with," Viriri added.

Michael Fiorentino

Michael Fiorentino is an associate producer at NBC News.

The Associated Press contributed.

More Than 2,000 Feared Dead In Papua New Guinea Landslide

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More Than 2,000 Believed Buried Alive In Papua New Guinea Landslide, Government Says

A Papua New Guinea government official has told the United Nations that more than 2,000 people are believed to have been buried alive by last Friday's landslide and has formally asked for international help.

The government figure is roughly triple the U.N. Estimate of 670 killed by the landslide in the South Pacific island nation's mountainous interior. The remains of only five people had been recovered by Monday, local authorities reported. It was not immediately clear why the tally of six reported on Sunday had been revised down.

In a letter to the United Nations resident coordinator dated Sunday, the acting director of the country's National Disaster Center, Luseta Laso Mana, said the landslide "buried more than 2,000 people alive" and caused "major destruction" in Yambali village in Enga province.

People gather at the site of a landslide in Papua New Guinea's Enga Province on May 24, 2024. STR / AFP via Getty Images

The landslide caused "major destruction to buildings, food gardens and caused major impact on the economic lifeline of the country," the letter said, according to Agence France-Presse.

Estimates of the casualties have varied widely since the disaster occurred, and it was not immediately clear how officials arrived the number of people affected.

The International Organization for Migration, which is working closely with the government and taking a leading role in the international response, has not changed its estimated death toll of 670 released on Sunday, pending new evidence.

"We are not able to dispute what the government suggests but we are not able to comment on it," said Serhan Aktoprak, chief of the U.N. Migrant agency's mission in Papua New Guinea.

"As time goes in such a massive undertaking, the number will remain fluid," Aktoprak added.

The death toll of 670 was based on calculations by Yambali village and Enga provincial officials that more than 150 homes had been buried by the landslide. The previous estimate had been 60 homes.

The office of Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape did not respond Monday to a request for an explanation of what the government estimate of 2,000 was based on. Marape has promised to release information about the scale of the destruction and loss of life when it becomes available.

Locals look on May 25, 2024 into a demolished house at the site of a landslide the day before in Papua New Guinea's Enga Province. STR / AFP via Getty Images

Determining the scale of the disaster is difficult because of challenging conditions on the ground, including the village's remote location, a lack of telecommunications and tribal warfare throughout the province which means international relief workers and aid convoys require military escorts.

At least 26 tribal warriors and mercenaries were killed in a battle between two warring tribes in Enga in February, as well as an unconfirmed number of bystanders.

The national government's lack of reliable census data also adds to the challenges of determining how many are potentially dead.

The government estimates Papua New Guinea's population at around 10 million people, although a U.N. Study, based on data including satellite photographs of roof tops, estimated in 2022 it could be as high as 17 million. An accurate census has not been held in the nation in decades.

The landslide also buried a 200-meter (650-foot) stretch of the province's main highway under debris 6 to 8 meters (20 to 26 feet) deep, creating a major obstacle for relief workers.

Mana said the landslide would have a major economic impact on the entire country.

Family members of missing villagers are seen on May 26, 2024 at the site of a landslide three days prior in Papua New Guinea's Enga Province. STR / AFP via Getty Images

An excavator donated by a local builder Sunday became the first piece of heavy earth-moving machinery brought in to help villagers who have been digging with shovels and farming tools to find bodies. Working around the still-shifting debris is treacherous.

"The situation remains unstable" due to the shifting ground, "posing ongoing danger to both the rescue teams and survivors alike," Mana wrote to the United Nations.

Mana and Papua New Guinea's defense minister, Billy Joseph, flew on Sunday in an Australian military helicopter from the capital of Port Moresby to Yambali, 600 kilometers (370 miles) to the northwest, to gain a firsthand perspective of what is needed.

Mana's office posted a photo of him at Yambali handing a local official a check for 500,000 kina ($130,000) to buy emergency supplies for 4,000 displaced survivors.

The purpose of the visit was to decide whether Papua New Guinea's government needed to officially request more international support.

Earth-moving equipment used by Papua New Guinea's military was being transported to the disaster scene, 250 miles from the east coast city of Lae.

Traumatized villagers are divided over whether heavy machinery should be allowed to dig up and potentially further damage the bodies of their buried relatives, officials said.

Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said his officials have been talking with their Papua New Guinea counterparts since Friday, when the landslide occurred.

"The exact nature of the support that we do provide will play out over the coming days," Marles told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

"We've obviously (have) airlift capacity to get people there. There may be other equipment that we can bring to bear in terms of the search and rescue (and other matters) ... That we are talking through with PNG right now," Marles added.