More Landslides May Occur in Papua New Guinea, Warn Authorities

Authorities in Papua New Guinea have warned there is still a high risk of more landslides occurring at the site of a recent deadly disaster.

The experts have demanded the government the area to be evacuated and declared a “no-entry zone”.

A draft internal report by Papua New Guinea’s mining and geohazards department, obtained by AFP on Tuesday, warns that the highland community where hundreds are feared to have died on May 24 needs to be urgently cleared of people.

“This area has to be declared a no-go-zone,” the report warns, citing a litany of risks from further landslips, teetering boulders and underground streams.

Stating that there is a “high likelihood of further landslides to occur in the immediate future”, the report concludes that “any access to the area should be restricted to experts”.

Initial Papua New Guinea government estimates said as many as 2,000 people may have been buried last month, although local officials have more recently put the number in the hundreds.

Only nine bodies have been recovered, according to local health authorities.