Landslide in Papua New Guinea: At least 12 people dead

A landslide that struck near a village in Papua New Guinea has resulted in, at least, 12 casualties.

The ground failure occurred on March 21, 2020, in Lamindi, a village located in Western Highlands Province. There is little information about the size and the mechanism of the failure, but what is certain is that it was triggered late at night when all people were asleep. It struck a number of houses and buried at least 12 residents under the debris. "There are about 12 people, 12 confirmed people buried underground with their houses," Phillip Talpa, the administrator of the local district, stated the following day.

Some people were also injured and officials tried to bring medical help to the village. In total, the landslide has impacted around 1000 residents causing property and field damage. Until now, financial support has not been granted to them.

Local authorities deployed an excavator and their own means to search in the rubble for the victims and, during the following 2 days, 10 bodies were recovered. "They were able to dig out 10 bodies. Two are still believed to be buried underground. The excavator is already on-site, digging a few sites that they believe the bodies are hidden under," Talpa, mentioned.

The ground failure was preceded by a series of rainfalls in the region and probably excess water pore-pressure was steadily built leading to the instability. Officials stated that the landslide area is still hazardous and subsequent events may occur. “They (the villagers) can see that the top of the other mountain where the landslide occurred…pieces of earth are falling down and it’s still unstable up there," Talpa, added.

Authorities are trying to alert locals about the risk of further landslips and to evacuate them from the hazardous areas. However, not all people are following instructions and their relocation has proven to be a challenging task.

The New Guinea Highlands are considered a landslide-prone region due to the steep terrain, the torrential rainfalls and the high seismicity of the wider area. In February 2018, the Southern Highlands were devastated by a series of co-seismic landslides that resulted in, at least, 67 fatalities and 300 injuries. In April 2019, a vast mudslide struck in Enga province causing 8 casualties and affecting the majority of infrastructure in Sakin, a village with a population of 1000 people.