Papua New Guinea Landslide

       What We Know Video Rising Death Toll Villages Engulfed

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       What We Know About the Papua New Guinea Landslide

       Nearly five days after the disaster hit a remote section of the country, officials have started evacuating residents. But the scale of the death toll remains uncertain.

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       A view of the landslide in Yambali village, in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea, on Monday.Credit...Juho Valta/UNDP Papua New Guinea, via Associated Press

       By Jin Yu Young

       May 28, 2024Updated 10:48 a.m. ET

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       Nearly five days after a landslide devastated a remote section of Papua New Guinea, officials in the Pacific Island nation have begun evacuating residents, because the area remains unsafe.

       “Rocks are still moving, the mountain is still crumbling, and we are seeing rock and debris pile up on what’s already happened,” Sandis Tsaka, the administrator of Enga Province, the site of the disaster, said on Tuesday evening. “The land around is starting to cave in.”

       Those conditions, Mr. Tsaka said, had also prevented officials from bringing in heavy equipment to clear the debris and search for survivors. The circumstances also make it difficult to understand the true scale of the tragedy, with estimates of the death toll ranging from the hundreds to the thousands.

       Here is what we know so far:

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       What happened? The landslide hit the community around Yambali village around 3 a.m. on Friday. Boulders the size of shipping containers demolished buildings, burying at least 60 homes and at least one elementary school.

       Satellite images show size of landslide

       Before

       Highlands Highway

       Homes

       PAPUA NEW

       GUINEA

       Site of landslide

       After

       Highlands Highway

       1,950 ft

       Site of landslide

       1,000 feet

       Satellite images by Planet Labs on May 15 and May 26, 2024.

       By Agnes Chang

       What We Know About the Papua New Guinea Landslide - The New York Times

       Papua New Guinea is especially vulnerable to natural disasters, and this landslide disrupted the main highway into the region, making it harder to deliver aid.

       The landslide took place in a populated area

       Less

       populated

       More

       populated

       Site of

       landslide

       PAPUA

       NEW GUINEA

       Port Moresby

       Pacific

       Ocean

       200 miles

       Pacific

       Ocean

       Less populated

       More populated

       Site of

       landslide

       INDONESIA

       PAPUA

       NEW GUINEA

       Port Moresby

       Coral

       Sea

       200 miles

       Pacific

       Ocean

       Site of

       landslide

       PAPUA

       NEW GUINEA

       Port Moresby

       Less populated

       More populated

       200 miles

       Sources: Kontur; Humanitarian Data Exchange; WorldPop; Open Street Map

       By Pablo Robles

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       Jin Yu Young reports on South Korea, the Asia Pacific region and global breaking news from Seoul. More about Jin Yu Young

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