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UNICEF is increasing its emergency response to Papua New Guinea's massive landslide several days after more than 2,000 people were buried alive, as treacherous terrain and difficulties transporting aid lowered hopes of finding survivors.
According to UNICEF representative Angela Kearney, "We [UNICEF] are working closely with Papua New Guinean authorities and community organizations to provide vital support to the survivors of this terrible disaster."
"It's now clear that over 40 percent of those impacted are children under the age of 16 who have been deeply traumatized by the loss of their families, homes, and livelihoods," she said.
UNICEF's original response includes hygiene and dignity kits. Buckets, jerrycans, soap, reusable sanitary pads, multipurpose cloth, and other items have been distributed by the local Provincial Health Authority.
UNICEF has been a part of the broader effort to provide WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene), child protection, education, and health to the local community. Local evacuation teams are involved in essential services for the displaced.
A U.N. agency has put the possible death toll at more than 670 people.
The landslide crashed through six villages in the Maip-Mulitaka district in the country's north at around 3 a.m. local time on Friday while most of the community slept. More than 150 houses were buried beneath debris almost two stories high.
Rescuers told local media they heard screams from beneath the earth.
"I have 18 of my family members being buried under the debris and soil that I am standing on, and a lot more family members in the village I cannot count," resident Evit Kambu told the Reuters news agency. "But I cannot retrieve the bodies so I am standing here helplessly."
Residents are still using spades, sticks and their bare hands to try and shift the debris and reach any survivors. Only seven bodies have been found.
Villagers held a funeral Monday for one victim. Mourners walked in a procession behind the coffin wailing and weeping, according to video shot by a U.N. official.
Initial aid trickle
Heavy equipment and aid have been slow to arrive due to the remote location, while tribal warfare nearby has forced aid workers to travel in convoys escorted by soldiers and return to the provincial capital, roughly 60 kilometers away, at night.
Eight people were killed and 30 houses intentionally burned down in the conflict Saturday, a U.N. agency official said. Aid convoys Monday passed the still smoking remains of houses.
The first excavator only reached the site late Sunday, according to a U.N. official.
Many people are still unsure as to whether loved ones were in the path of the landslide because villagers often move between the homes of friends and relatives, according to Matthew Hewitt Tapus, a pastor based in Port Moresby, whose home village is roughly 20 kilometers from the disaster zone.
"It's not like everyone is in the same house at the same time, so you have fathers who don't know where their children are, mothers who don't know where husbands are; it's chaotic," he told Reuters by phone.
Prime Minister James Marape's office said the disaster was being handled by PNG emergency authorities and Marape was in the capital, Port Moresby, preparing for the return of parliament Tuesday, where he faced a no-confidence motion.
Australia announced an initial $1.66 million aid package late Monday and said it would send technical experts to help rescue and recovery efforts. The Australian Defense Force is already providing logistical support.
China, which has been wooing Pacific island nations, said it would heed the needs of PNG and provide assistance within China's capabilities for disaster relief and post-disaster reconstruction.
"We believe that the people of Papua New Guinea will be able to overcome difficulties and rebuild their homeland at an early date," foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a daily news briefing when asked about aid to PNG.
Site still dangerous
Even when rescue teams can get to the site, rain, the unstable ground and flowing water are making it extremely dangerous for residents and rescue teams to clear debris, according to Serhan Aktoprak, the chief of the U.N. migration agency's mission in PNG.
There is still a risk the soil and debris could shift again and more than 250 homes have been abandoned as officials encourage people to evacuate, he said. More than 1,250 people have been displaced.
Some local residents also do not want heavy machinery and excavators entering the village and interrupting the mourning, he said.
"At this point, people I think are realizing that the chances are very slim that anyone can basically be taken out alive," he said.
The Voice of America provides news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of over 326 million people. Stories with the VOA News byline are the work of multiple VOA journalists and may contain information from wire service reports.