Papua New Guinea landslide: ‘Death toll could exceed 2,000’

Disaster zone: Locals digging at the site of the landslide at Mulitaka village in the region of Maip Mulitaka, in Enga province. — AFP

More than 2,000 people could be buried alive by a massive landslide in Papua New Guinea last week, the government said, as treacherous terrain and the difficulty of getting aid to the site raises the risk few survivors will be found.

The National Disaster Centre raised the number suspected buried to 2,000 in a letter to the UN released yesterday but dated Sunday. A separate UN agency put the possible death toll much lower, at more than 670 people.