In Papua New Guinea, after a powerful landslide, the bodies of more than 2 thousand people were found under the rubble. This was reported by RTE on Monday, May 27, citing the UN. The agency also noted that the landslide caused serious damage to the country and its economy.
On May 23 (at about 20 pm Thursday Moscow time), after heavy and prolonged rains, a huge landslide hit the village of Kaokalam in Enga province, about 600 kilometers northwest of the capital of Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby. The landslide also blocked the access road to the town of Porgera, where a large gold mine is located.
According to the media, the rubble covers an area of more than 200 square kilometers, and can only be reached by helicopter. There is no equipment at the site; the dead (and possible survivors) are dug out with shovels.
Later, on May 26, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported that more than 670 people could have died as a result of a landslide in Papua New Guinea. As the head of the IOM mission in the region, Serhan Aktoprak, clarified at the time, the revised death toll was based on calculations by officials in the village of Yambali and Enga province that more than 150 houses were flooded as a result of the landslide.