The death tolls arising from a landslide that affected Papua New Guinea has claimed the lives of over 670 people with expectations of an increase in number.
The death toll was confirmed by the UN migration agency’s mission chief on the Island Serhan Aktoprak who said the new number is solely based on numerics from two villages within the Island.
He stressed that the number of homes destroyed by the incident on Friday surpassed 150 homes adding to the 60 estimates they had previously.
During a press briefing, Aktoprak said the death witnessed in recent days is above expectations with five bodies among the victims having been recovered by Sunday.
Survivors on the Island are currently being moved to safer ground on Sunday as there’s the threat of further natural disasters which is currently affecting rescue efforts.
The Papua New Guinea government has called for more international support as rescue officials have given up hope of finding survivors deep under the earth as far as 6-8 meters deep.