Up to 60 people are feared killed in a massive landslide which hit villages near the ExxonMobil-led LNG project in Papua New Guinea’s Southern Highlands.

The landslide struck at 7am (AEDT) yesterday near the Nogoli base for the liquefied natural gas plant site, northwest of Port Moresby.

ExxonMobil says all its staff have been accounted for.

The director of PNG’s National Disaster Centre, Martin Mosi, says there are settlements close to the otherwise remote site near Mendi, in the centre of the country, and he fears lives have been lost.

“At this time it is hard to say,” he said. “Most likely lives have been lost, we cannot tell how many. “There were villages – settlements – where the landslide covered.”

He said, however, that media reports of deaths between 40 and 60 were not surprising. “The land is covered and quite extensively,” he said. “Those little hamlets … they may not have escaped.”

When are we going to end our dependence on fossils fuels? Has there not been enough deaths? Enough damage to the earth? And polluting ourselves and our children?  The greed is destroying man and earth.

When?

Published by Michelle

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