The landslide site in Yambali village in Enga province. Photo: Juho Valta with UNDP Papua New Guinea
An aid agency is helping the traumatised survivors of a mass landslide which buried hundreds of people under rubble.
The Papua New Guinea (PNG) government will stop searching for bodies which were buried under the landslide in the Yambali village, Enga province, on 24 May.
The site will be designated as a mass burial sit with monuments erected.
New Zealand geotechnical experts in Papua New Guinea have also advised for the immediate relocation of people in areas with high risks of more landslides.
UNICEF Papua New Guinea representative Angela Kearney told Morning Report many women and children were "struggling and traumatised".
"We set up yesterday a child friendly space. So a big tent where children can come, they can play, they can dance, they can sing, they can paint with trained volunteers from the community.
"I was up there on Friday last week and just saw the absolute sorrow and sadness in the children's faces, it's really tough for them. They've lost family members, they've lost friends, but also they survived it themselves."
The updated number from the PNG government of people buried under the landslide is 670. The number of displaced people is believed to be about 1650.
Many had stuck close by to where the landslide happened, building makeshift shelters, she said.
"There's a lot of kind of emotional drawback to be close to where their loved ones are. But now they've made this decision to make it into memorial sites and I think we can help them to move on and we're helping the children to move on."
There were no problems in getting supplies delivered to the area, she said.
"There's a lot of supplies have gone in, you know, New Zealand, Australia have been really supportive of that as well as the Papua New Guinea government. The roads are open. We got lots of sanitation kits up there, lots of sanitary supplies for women."
But they were working on making sure the community had a clean water source to avoid any potential disease outbreaks, she said.
