Emergency crews in Papua New Guinea move survivors of massive landslide to safer ground

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) - Emergency responders in Papua New Guinea were moving survivors of a massive landslide - feared to have buried scores of people - to safer ground on Sunday as tons of unstable earth and tribal warfare, which is rife in the country’s Highlands, threatened the rescue effort.

The South Pacific island's government meanwhile is considering whether it needs to officially request more international support.

Crews have given up hope of finding survivors under earth and rubble 6 to 8 meters (20 to 26 feet) deep after a landslide wiped out part of Yambali village in Enga province a few hours before dawn on Friday, said Serhan Aktoprak, the chief of the International Organization for Migration's mission in Papua New Guinea.

Local authorities initially estimated the death toll could be around 100, but others fear many more have died.

"Hopes to take the people out alive from the rubble have diminished now," Aktoprak told The Associated Press.

"People are coming to terms with this so there is a serious level of grieving and mourning," he added.

Only fives bodies had been dug out of the debris by hand by late Saturday, with heavy earth-moving equipment yet to arrive at the mountainous location 600 kilometers (370 miles) northwest of the capital, Port Moresby.

Government authorities were establishing evacuation centers on safer ground on either side of the massive swathe of debris that covers an area the size of three to four football fields and has cut the main highway through the province.

"Working across the debris is very dangerous and the land is still sliding," Aktoprak said.

Besides the blocked highway, convoys that have transported food, water and other essential supplies since Saturday to the devastated village 60 kilometers (35 miles) from the provincial capital Wabag have faced risks related to tribal fighting in Tambitanis village about halfway along the route. Papua New Guinea soldiers were providing security for the convoys.

Eight locals were killed in a clash between two rival clans on Saturday in a longstanding dispute unrelated to the landslide. Around 30 homes and five retail businesses were burned down in the fighting, local officials said.

Aktoprak said he did not expect tribal combatants would target the convoys but noted that opportunistic criminals might take advantage of the mayhem to do so.

"This could basically end up in carjacking or robbery," Aktoprak said. "There is not only concern for the safety and security of the personnel, but also the goods because they may use this chaos as a means to steal."

Longtime tribal warfare has cast doubt on the official estimate that almost 4,000 people were living in the village when a side of Mount Mungalo fell away.

Justine McMahon, country director of the humanitarian agency CARE International, said that figure was based on an out-of-date census and didn't take into account the recent movements of refugees fleeing tribal violence in the region.

"The authorities do anticipate that the number of casualties will rise," McMahon told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

"Because of tribal fights, other displaced people had moved into the area, so they do expect that the population is much bigger than the official figures indicate," McMahon added.

McMahon said moving survivors to "more stable ground" was an immediate priority along with providing them with food, water and shelter. The military was leading those efforts.

While Papua New Guinea is in the tropics, the village is 2,000 meters (6,600 feet) above sea level where temperatures are substantially cooler.

Papua New Guinea Defense Minister Billy Jospeh and the government's National Disaster Center director Laso Mana were flying from Port Moresby by helicopter to Wabag on Sunday to gain a firsthand perspective of what is needed.

Aktoprak expected the government would decide by Tuesday whether it would officially request more international help.

The United States and Australia, a near neighbor and Papua New Guinea's most generous provider of foreign aid, are among governments that have publicly stated their readiness to do more to help responders.

Papua New Guinea is a diverse, developing nation with 800 languages and 10 million people who are mostly subsistence farmers.