Papua New Guinea disasters caused by etraordinary weather, says PM Marape

Papua New Guinea PM blames weather changes for landslide disaster, thousands feared dead, urgent rescue efforts underway.

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape on May 29 blamed "extraordinary rainfall" and changes to weather patterns for multiple disasters in the Pacific Island nation this year, including a landslide last week which may have killed thousands.

Parts of a mountain in the Maip-Mulitaka area in Enga province in PNG's north collapsed in the early hours of last Friday and Mr. Marape said more than 2,000 people are estimated to have died, with up to 70,000 people living in the area impacted by the disaster.

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"Our people in that village went to sleep for the last time, not knowing they would breathe their last breath as they were sleeping peacefully. Nature threw a disastrous landslip, submerged or covered the village," Mr. Marape told parliament on Wednesday.

Natural disasters have cost the country more than 500 million kina ($126 million) this year, before the landslide at Enga, he said.

"This year, we had extraordinary rainfall that has caused flooding in river areas, sea level rise in coastal areas and landslips in a few areas," Mr. Marape said.

"We have faced extraordinary weather patterns and changes from dryness to wetness," he added.