UN: PNG landslide toll rises to 670

PORT MORESBY (AFP) More than 670 people are believed to have died after a massive landslide in Papua New Guinea, a UN official told AFP yesterday as aid workers and villagers braved perilous conditions in their desperate search for survivors.

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"There are an estimated 150-plus houses now buried," said UN migration agency official Serhan Aktoprak, adding that "670-plus people are assumed dead." "The situation is terrible with the land still sliding. The water is running and this is creating a massive risk for everyone involved," added Aktoprak, who is based in Port Moresby.

The once-bustling hillside village in Enga province was almost completely obliterated

when the landslide struck in the early hours of Friday morning, burying scores of homes and the people sleeping inside.