Volunteer rescuers yesterday ran nonstop airlifts to remote areas of Papua New Guinea (PNG), seeking to reach victims still stranded two days after a massive magnitude 7.6 earthquake.
The quake rattled a broad area of the country’s north, killing at least seven people, but the scale of the disaster is only slowly coming into focus.
At least 389 houses collapsed in the town of Madang alone, said UN assessors now on the ground. It is expected the damage toll will rise as ground staff reach other communities.
Photo: AFP / Manolos Aviation / Erebiri Zurenuoc
International Federation of the Red Cross PNG delegation head Maki Igarashi said it was “very difficult access to most of the locations” because of the affected area’s remoteness.
The earthquake’s epicenter was in “the middle of the jungle,” she said.
With government resources limited, much of the rescue effort has been carried out by small private companies and volunteers.
Pilot Jurgen Ruh, the owner of Manolos Aviation, said he had “lost count” of the number of medical evacuations he had carried out since the earthquake hit Sunday morning.
“It hasn’t stopped yet,” he said, as he readied to head out for two further medical evacuation flights in the country’s remote highlands.
Of those rescued, “the youngest person was two years old,” Ruh said, adding that the girl, who had a broken skull, had survived after emergency surgery.
Ruh said his company had been fielding calls directly from people in need of evacuation, adding that in Papua New Guinea, “if you don’t help yourself, no one will help you.”
The earthquake was the largest in the Pacific nation since 2002, but has so far claimed far fewer lives than the last major quake, which killed 145 people in 2018.
Papua New Guinean authorities have confirmed all seven fatalities were caused by landslides that occurred near the Rai Coast, Kambum and Wau, where three miners were killed after being trapped underground.
Ruh said some of his pilots were airlifting a pregnant mother when the quake struck and, as they flew her to safety, “saw the side of the mountain disappear.”
Igarashi said that Internet and power outages in the wake of the earthquake had made it difficult to get a full picture of the situation on the ground.
The Ramu hydropower station, near the epicenter, was damaged by the quake, and Internet service has slowed dramatically because of the effect on submarine cables.
OUT OF NIGER: The US joint chiefs of staff chairman is in Botswana for a gathering of African chiefs of defense as Washington seeks to rebuild its presence in the continent The top US general is making a rare trip to Africa to discuss ways to preserve some of the US presence in West Africa after Niger decided to kick out the US military in favor of partnering with Russia in a major setback for Washington. US Air Force General C.Q. Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters before landing in Botswana yesterday for a gathering of African chiefs of defense that he was going to speak with several partners in the region. “I do see some opportunities. And there’s countries that we’re already working with in West Africa,” Brown
MONEY MATTERS? Hanoi said the US and Vietnam talked about developing their partnership, which involves significantly more trade than with Russia A senior US diplomat on Saturday held talks in Vietnam and said that the trust between the two countries was at an “all-time high,” just days after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s state visit to Hanoi. US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink said that his trip was unrelated to Putin’s visit on Thursday. Vietnam last year elevated the US to its highest diplomatic status, comprehensive strategic partner, putting it at the same level as China and Russia. The elevation of the US ties suggested that Vietnam wanted to hedge its friendships as Western companies look
LITHIUM BATTERY: Twenty foreign workers, including 18 Chinese, were among the fatalities in the massive blaze that engulfed the Aricell factory in Hwaesong Twenty-two people were killed — including 18 Chinese nationals — in a massive fire at a South Korean lithium battery factory, the fire department said yesterday, one of the nation’s worst factory disasters in years. More than 100 people were working in the factory when workers heard a series of explosions from the second floor, where lithium-ion batteries were being inspected and packaged, firefighter Kim Jin-young told media. In the massive blaze that ensued, 22 people were killed, including 20 foreign nationals — 18 Chinese, one from Laos and one of unknown nationality, he said. “Most of the bodies are badly burned so
An ethnic armed group in Myanmar has seized the nation’s most popular beach resort town, with junta troops holed up in a nearby airport, military and local sources said yesterday. Clashes have rocked western Rakhine state since the Arakan Army (AA) attacked the military there in November, ending a ceasefire that had largely held since the 2021 military coup. For days, fighting has raged around Ngapali beach in the south of the state, where upmarket resorts dot the pristine, palm-fringed sands of the Indian Ocean. The town of Thandwe, a few kilometers from the beach and home to the local airport, was largely