Papua New Guinea authorities said nearly 7,900 people living near the site of a deadly landslide were “at risk” as rocks and debris continued to slide down hillsides.
Alerts for possible evacuations have been issued, and a provincial official said the mountain remains “very active.”
Rescuers said the chances of finding survivors in the rubble were getting slimmer.
The country’s disaster relief agency said Friday’s landslide may have buried about 2,000 people.
This is far higher than the United Nations estimate of around 670 victims.
The United Nations said it was difficult to determine the exact death toll as access to the site and those buried beneath the bodies remained difficult.
Several U.N. officials said that was partly due to the complexity of the search and salvage mission, which has now essentially become a body recovery operation.
“This is not a rescue mission, it is a recovery mission,” Niels Krell of Unicef in Papua New Guinea told AFP. “It is unlikely that they will survive.”
As of Tuesday, only six bodies had been found, according to local officials.
Villagers have been using shovels, sticks and their bare hands to try to clear the huge rocks and rubble, as the arrival of heavy machinery has been hampered and there are cultural sensitivities around the use of machines such as excavators near the bodies.
The terrain remains treacherous as rocks continue to fall. Video taken during the day shows rocks tumbling down the mountain.
“It’s still very active. The mountain is collapsing,” Sandis Tsaka, the chief executive of Enga province, told the BBC.
He added: “The rock and debris are constantly moving, which creates challenges for our search, rescue and recovery operations.”
The depth of rubble in some places is still up to 10m, and a large amount of rubble is still moving down the hillside, prompting the authorities to issue danger warnings and evacuation notices to nearby communities.
“The area affected by landslides is gradually expanding due to landslides. Therefore, the number of houses and properties not affected by the original landslide is increasing every day,” Mr Chaka said.
Another village close to the first affected village, Yambari, is now also in danger, he said.
Concerns are growing over the risk of infection and disease in the area as scores of bodies trapped beneath the rubble begin to rot.
The United Nations warned that water was flowing down the slopes beneath the rubble.
“The water trapped between the ground and the debris is flowing, and the body is starting to decompose. Can you imagine? [the impact] Serhan Aktoprak, an official with the United Nations migration agency, told the BBC on Tuesday that more than 2,000 bodies were buried under the land and could not be removed.
Amid the dangerous situation, aid groups say they are focused on the immediate task of providing residents with basic supplies such as food, water and hygiene products.
But there are some obstacles, including the highway leading to the village blocked and damaged by landslides.
A bridge connecting the centers of Hagen and Waberg provinces south of the landslide area also reportedly collapsed on Tuesday, making it more difficult for humanitarian groups to deliver aid.
Australia has committed to airlifting the supplies, which are expected to arrive on Wednesday.
Local officials said the landslide occurred around 03:00 on Friday. Before the landslide, about 3,800 people lived in the hillside village and more than 150 houses were razed to the ground.
The mountain’s collapse has been attributed to weeks of heavy rain and other wet conditions in the area.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister James Marape expressed his condolences to the region and directed the national response team to the area.
The disaster comes as Mr Marape faces political pressure – with parliament expected to vote on a motion of no confidence in him on Tuesday.
