Massive mudslide wipes out remote villages in PNG’s Enga Province
At least 8 people have been killed and 4 remain missing after a devastating mudslide hit two remote villages in Papua New Guinea's remote Enga Province on April 15, 2018. Search and rescue operations are still in progress.
The event is a cruel reminder that many communities in mostly-rural PNG live in areas prone to frequent disaster, Radio New Zealand's Mackenzie Smith said.
Local authorities said Kalepata village was completely wiped out. Some of the homes had been buried by 6 to 7 m (20 – 23 feet) of earth, rocks and trees.
"Well over a hundred buildings and homes, food gardens, crops, trees, banyan, trees, vegetables, the vegetation.. massive, masive destruction," Michael Kambao, a provincial government lawyer living in the area said.
Smith said entire hillsides are missing… 'their innards cleaving a muddy stream down Tsak valley.'
Heavy rainfall is forecast over most of the country over the next 24 hours, particularly across central and central-eastern provinces.
Featured image: Approximate location of the landslide. Credit: Google, TW
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