Photo: Juho Valta / AP. Retrieved from nbcnews.com
Further landslides are likely to plague the area where part of a mountain collapsed onto a remote village in Papua New Guinea two weeks ago, New Zealand geological experts warned Friday, as authorities ended search and rescue efforts.
It remains unclear how many people died in the massive landslide in Papua New Guinea’s Enga region on May 24, with the national government reporting more than 2,000 people have been buried alive and a U.N. estimate putting the death toll at around 670.
Only 11 bodies have been recovered so far.
New Zealand geotechnical engineers sent to Papua New Guinea released a report on Thursday raising concerns about the stability of the ground not just in the landslide but also to either side of it.
“We believe that there is real potential for further landslides to occur in the near or medium term,” Aaron Waterreus, the leader of the Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) team that includes the geotechnical engineers, said in a news conference on Friday.