Papua New Guinea is still grappling with landslides estimated to have killed at least 670 people, with desperate villagers digging through the rubble to search for survivors and retrieve bodies.
Heavy rain caused a mountainside collapse early Friday morning, destroying a bustling village in Enga province and extending the damage to nearly a kilometer, observers reported.
Fewer than a dozen bodies have been found so far, with rubble 10m (32ft) deep in places and a lack of adequate equipment hampering work.
Local media reported that a couple was rescued from the rubble because their home, located on the edge of the affected area, was not completely buried.
According to the local NBC channel, rescuers heard their cries of being trapped under the rock formations and were rescued.
Emergency workers deployed to the region are prioritizing evacuations from areas where the situation remains unstable, aid officials told the BBC.
“We have decided to stay out for the time being to give authorities time to properly assess the situation to carry out rescue and recovery operations,” said Justine McMahon, national coordinator of Care Australia, the Australian one of the humanitarian aid agencies.
“The ground is also quite unstable at the moment and there is a risk of further landslides,” Ms McMahon said on Monday.
Australia is one of Papua New Guinea’s closest neighbors and has long provided security and assistance to Papua New Guinea.
Previously, an official from the United Nations migration agency in the country described the difficulties of rescue to the BBC.
Serhan Aktoprak of the International Organization for Migration said teams trying to recover the bodies faced many challenges, including the reluctance of some grieving relatives to let heavy machinery near their loved ones.
Instead, he said, “people are using digging sticks, shovels, large farm forks to remove bodies buried under the soil.”
Debris from landslides, including large boulders, trees and displaced soil, was as deep as 10 m (32 ft) in some areas.
More than 150 houses were buried and about 1,250 people were displaced.
Workers on the scene also said that the only road leading to the town was severely damaged and rescue efforts were also hampered. Ms McMahon said the landslide had caused damage to about 200 m (650 ft) in length.
Initial reports put the death toll in the hundreds, but the death toll rose sharply on Sunday after the United Nations revised it to take into account the latest population figures.
Locals have noticed that in recent years the village has attracted people from other areas displaced by tribal violence in the area.
The Mount Mungaro landslide occurred in the Enga Highlands in the north of the island nation.
Tiffany Turnbull reporting from Sydney
