Papua New Guinea prime minister visits site of massive landslide estimated to have killed hundreds

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Papua New Guinea’s prime minister on Friday visited the site of a massive

landslide

that is estimated to have buried hundreds of villagers in the South Pacific island nation’s mountainous interior a week ago and where the ground too unstable for heavy earth-moving machines to help clear the mess.

James Marape told hundreds who had gathered near the devastated Yambali village that the list of governments and world leaders who had sent their condolences included the United States, China, India, France, Malaysia and the Czech Republic. First on the list was British King Charles III, Papua New Guinea’s constitutional head of state.

“My people are simple people. I want to say thank you for them to the global friends of PNG,” Marape said.

The first mechanized excavator arrived at the scene on Sunday but has not been permitted to start removing the boulders, rocks and splintered trees that have buried a 150-to-200 meter (500-to-650 foot) stretch of the Enga province’s main highway.

The nation’s military had expected up to 10 excavators and bulldozers to be on the scene this week to help villagers who have used spades and farming tools to painstakingly retrieve bodies from the rubble but have so far only found seven.

The United Nations estimates 670 villagers died in the disaster that immediately displaced 1,650 survivors. Papua New Guinea’s government has told the United Nations it thinks

more than 2,000 people

were buried.

Marape said geotechnical reports in recent days found the area remains unstable.

“That’s why we haven’t used heavy machinery in case it triggers something,” Marape said.

“A full assessment of the stability of the place will be carried out before we use heavy machinery,” he added.

A dispute between local landowners and a nearby gold mine plus the sensitivities of grieving villagers are also obstacles to the mechanized removal of a huge quantity of debris.

Enga governor Peter Ipatas has urged local landowners not to deny access to the disaster site to earth-moving equipment owned by the Porgera Gold Mine 30 kilometers (19 miles) away as part of their financial dispute with the mine’s owner.

The mine has been isolated by the landslide and has offered equipment to help clear the highway.

The mine’s manger, Karo Lelai, confirmed an offer had been made, but did not respond to The Associated Press’ questions about what equipment had been proposed and what the obstacles were to its deployment.

Local politician Jaman Yadam told the country’s The National newspaper that unless the mine’s owner met the landowners’ financial demands, “the landslip site will remain a mass burial site, cutting off road access to the mine.”

Some of the disaster survivors want the highway debris left as a memorial where they can place flowers to remember their dead, the International Organization for Migration reported.