Driver: I lost 3 family members in landslide

By ELIAS LARI
A PMV bus owner says his younger brother and two cousins are among the 25 people buried alive in last week’s massive landslide in Southern Highlands province.
Morris Wama, from Ialibu, Southern Highlands, said he was there at that time.
Wama was driving his bus from Hides 4 and was on his way to Tari at 3am when the landslide took place.
His younger brother, Terry Wama, and their cousin Jim Thomas Buka, were with him on the bus and were ready to return to Tari but the two decided to go down to a nearby guest house to see Buka’s elder brother, Patrick. They said they would catch the next PMV to Tari. 
Patrick is employed by CCJV as a welder and lives at the guesthouse which was also buried in the landslide.
Wama dropped Jim and Terry at the guesthouse then left for Tari with the 27 passengers on his bus. 
While on his way to Tari, Wama was stopped at Nongoli by locals who wanted to know if he had any information about the landslide.
He was surprised because the landslide took place almost immediately after he left the guesthouse.
He then tried calling Patrick, Jim and Terry on their mobile phones to find about the landslide. They did not answer his calls.
Wama was then told by locals that his brothers were buried alive with others who were in the guesthouse.
“I was shocked. I went back to confirm and found it was all a heap of soil popping up like brick walls at the location where the guesthouse was,” Wama said.
His family then realised that they were dead because there was no sign of them.
His relatives then held a funeral at Orei village in the Ialibu-Pangia electorate.
Terry is survived by his wife and two children.
Patrick left behind his wife and three children.
Jim is survived by his wife and two children.