Almost five days after a A landslide destroyed a remote part of Papua New GuineaOfficials on the Pacific island nation have begun evacuating residents as the area remains unsafe.
“The rocks are still moving, the mountain is still crumbling, and we see rocks and debris piling up on what has already happened,” said Sandis Tsaka, the administrator of Enga province, the site of the the disaster, Tuesday evening. “The land around it is starting to collapse.”
These conditions, Mr Tsaka said, had also prevented officials from deploying heavy equipment to clear the rubble 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 hundreds to thousands.
Here's what we know so far:
What happened?
The landslide hit the community around Yambali village around 3am on Friday. Boulders the size of shipping containers destroyed buildings, burying at least 60 homes and at least one primary school.
Papua New Guinea is particularly vulnerable to natural disasters, and this landslide disrupted the main road into the region, making it more difficult to deliver aid.
Videos posted on social media showed residents using shovels and picks to search for survivors under huge rocks. A United Nations official estimated that the rubble was as high as 26 feet.
What was the damage?
Estimates of the death toll varied widely. A United Nations agency put the number at around 670 on Sunday, but a day later local authorities said as many as 2,000 people had been killed.
“While officials agree the death toll will be high, it is difficult to say how many have actually died,” said Nicholas Booth, representative of the United Nations Development Program in Papua New Guinea.
Only six bodies had been recovered on Tuesday, according to a UN statement.
In addition, more than 150 structures were damaged or buried, Mr Booth said.
The landslide occurred in a remote but densely populated area that is part of the highlands of Papua New Guinea. A 2022 electoral roll put the region's population at just under 4,000, although that did not take into account children or teenagers under 18, Mr Booth said.
The population numbers were further complicated, he said, by tribal conflicts in the region, which have led to internal displacement of people.
What is the history of tribal violence?
According to experts, tensions between the tribes have been increasing for years. They say the scarcity of basic resources such as water and land has fueled conflict.
On Saturday morning, a tribal conflict blocked access to the disaster site. The International Organization for Migration, a U.N. agency, said eight people were killed in the weekend's clash and 30 houses were set on fire.
In February, more than two dozen people were killed in a gun battle between tribes in Enga province. Police said at the time that as many as seventeen tribes were involved in the violence. More than 150 people were killed in tribal clashes last year, prompting the provincial government to close off the region for three months.
What is the political situation in Papua New Guinea?
The deadly landslide occurred at a politically tense time for the country – which, although rich in natural resources, remains underdeveloped. Prime Minister James Marape, who has been in power since 2019, is opposing opposition attempts to table a vote of no confidence against his government in parliament.
Mr Marape had promised to transform the economy of Papua New Guinea, one of the world's poorest countries, and won re-election in 2022. He has tried to court both the United States and China, which are vying for influence in the Pacific.
But economic concerns persist. In January, a pay dispute arose between the government and hundreds of civil servants and police officers deadly riots. Experts say youth unemployment is a major problem for Papua New Guinea, where it is estimated that almost two-thirds of the population is under the age of 25.