UN warns of disease risk after PNG landslide as residents dig through tons of earth for kinDISEASE RISK. This handout photo taken on May 29, 2024 and received on May 30, 2024 from the Australian Defense Force shows a members of the ground staff unloading aid from a Royal Australian Air Force aircraft at Wapenamanda Airport near the site of the landslide in Yambali village, in Papua New Guinea’s Enga Province. Meanwhile the United Nations warned of a disease risk among the landslide survivors.
For much of the past week, residents of Yambeli and Lapak wards have been digging through countless tonnes of earth in the search for buried relatives.Local officials said between six and 11 bodies had been recovered. The confirmed death toll is expected to rise significantly once heavy machinery arrives and works though the disaster zone which measures 90,000 square meters.
“The absence of accurate and timely information on the affected areas and population hinders effective planning and delivery of humanitarian assistance,” the IOM warned. “For a landslide of this size, this is the sort of loss of life you’d see in a city,” Landslide expert and University of Hull vice-chancellor David Petley told AFP.