Bodies of parents and child found in earthquake rubble

By PETER WARI
THE bodies of two parents and their child were recovered from the rubble but the search continues for four others believed to be buried in their homes near Mendi on Monday morning.
Southern Highlands police commander Chief Supt Joseph Tondop, pictured, said the two parents and their child had been staying overnight with relatives at the Magani settlement when a landslide buried the home they were in.
Their bodies were retrieved late on Monday.
The four still missing include two children and their parents. It is believed that their home also vanished under a landslide in the Karinz Local Level Government of Mendi-Munihu district.
The eldest daughter managed to escape, he said .
Southern Highlands acting provincial administrator Thomas Eluh ordered the five district chief executives to compile reports and to be presented to him by 1pm today.
Eluh, the chairman of the disaster committee, and his deputy Tondop are organising relief assistance to the affected areas.
He said a number of deaths in the Nipa-Kutubu district were yet to be confirmed and hundreds of people were living in temporary shelters.
Many schools have suspended classes after classrooms and teachers’ quarters were destroyed.
Electricity supply has been cut including the mobile phone network.