Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister has blamed “extraordinary rainfall” and changes to weather patterns for disasters in the Pacific Island nation this year.
Parts of a mountain in Enga, a province in the northern part of Papua New Guinea, collapsed late last week.
Prime Minister James Marape said the estimated death toll tops 2,000. Up to 70,000 more in the area have been affected by the disaster.
Papua New Guinea is located just north of Australia in the southwestern Pacific.
Estimates of the death toll from the landslide have varied over recent days, with some local officials estimating it to be much lower than the number given by Marape.
The prime minister told The Guardian that natural disasters have cost the country nearly $130 million this year, even before the landslide at Enga.
Papua New Guinea regularly experiences natural disasters, but the latest landslide is one of the most devastating it has seen in recent years.
The country has ramped up rescue efforts, while authorities raised concerns about the outbreak of diseases amid warnings of further landslides. Thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate.
A total of 150 structures were estimated to have been buried by the landslide.
