RUGBY LEAGUE has rallied round Papua New Guinea following a landslide which has buried more than 2,000 people in the Enga province.
Yambali, a remote highland in the Pacific nation, was devastated by a landslide brought on by the collapse of a limestone mountainside over the weekend.
Officials from the United Nations agency shelter has helped find shelter for 1,600 displaced people and estimates 670 villagers to have died, though Papua New Guinea’s government estimates the number to be over 2,000.
However, that hasn’t stopped the danger from dissipating, with fears that another landslide could well be on its way.
“We are hearing suggestions that another landslide can happen and maybe 8,000 people need to be evacuated,” Serhan Aktoprak, chief of the International Organization for Migration’s mission in Papua New Guinea told The Associated Press.
“This is a major concern. The movement of the land, the debris, is causing a serious risk, and overall the total number of people that may be affected might be 6,000 or more,” he said. That includes villagers whose source of clean drinking water has been buried and subsistence farmers who lost their vegetable gardens.
“If this debris mass is not stopped, if it continues moving, it can gain speed and further wipe out other communities and villages further down the mountain.
“My biggest fear at the moment is corpses are decaying, … water is flowing and this is going to pose serious health risks in relation to contagious diseases.”
Of course, PNG has a long history with rugby league with favourites such as Stanley Gene blessing British shores for a number of years.
The likes of Liam Horne (Castleford Tigers), Nixon Putt (Castleford Tigers), Rodrick Tai (Warrington Wolves), Edwin Ipape (Leigh Leopards) and Adrian and Lachlan Lam (Leigh Leopards) are all PNG nationals and will have been keeping a close eye on the events back home.
Super League clubs took to social media to send their best wishes to the small Pacific nation, with Castleford Tigers posting on Instagram: “Castleford Tigers would like to offer our deepest condolences and support for the people and residents of Papua New Guinea after today’s tragic events.”
Everyone at League Express would like to pass on their best wishes to all those involved in Papua New Guinea.
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