Risky for team to continue search

 SOLDIERS and government officials at the site of the landslide in Eastern Highlands called off the search for bodies yesterday because their lives were being put at risk.

The heavy rain in the area made the landslide area unstable and there was a danger of another landslide occurring.

Excavation work that began yesterday was expected to continue through the night and today but had to be stopped because of the risks involved.

Eight people are unaccounted for and are believed buried by the landslide. 

That came as Goroka businessman Simon Sia donated items to the families affected by the landslide at Barano village, Daulo district.

Sia gave pots, utensils, mattresses, blankets, pillows, beddings and two bales of second-hand clothes.

“I feel speechless when I see the extent of the disaster,” he said.

“What I brought is not enough compared to the losses of lives and properties you have accumulated over the years.” 

On behalf of the affected family members, Kamsy Kiagi said Sia’s help would bring relief.

“It is a natural disaster that forced us to lose our loved ones and everything we own,” he said.

“Your contribution with the necessities of household items is like replacing what we have lost in the disaster.”

Acting Eastern Highlands provincial administrator Bill Kavanamur delivered a truck load of  store and garden food to the villagers