WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Moe than 2000 people were buried alive in a landslide in the north of Papua New Guinea.
Serhan Aktoprak, the country head of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that the community in Yambali village, situated at the foot of a mountain in the remote Enga Province, is buried under between six to eight metres of soil.
150 houses are believed to be buried, said the senior UN official, around 90 more than previously reported. Some 670 people are believed to be under the soil and 'hopes of finding them alive are shrinking'.
Friday's landslide likely to have been far more deadly than first thought, Aktoprak said.
Hopes of finding people who are believed to be under the soil alive are shrinking, according to him.
IOM aid workers, alongside personnel from other UN agencies, NGOs and government agencies, are on site in an attempt to locate bodie. The conditions remain dangerous for the workers; water continues to run down the mountain, and the land is still sliding. Falling boulders are also affecting relief efforts, Aktoprak said.
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