Tropical Cyclone Maila Kills At Least 11 In PNG’s Bougainville

MELBOURNE:
At least 11 people have died, including eight in a landslide, after Tropical Cyclone Maila hit the autonomous Bougainville region of Papua New Guinea (PNG).

PNG media reported on Monday that 11 people were killed in Bougainville, located over 950 km northeast of Port Moresby in the Solomon Sea, amid widespread destruction caused by the cyclone.

According to the National Broadcasting Corporation of PNG, at least eight people were killed by a landslide that destroyed homes in Asiko Village in Central Bougainville.

Two more women died after being hit by fallen trees, the NBC reported, and around 12 other people have been hospitalised with various injuries.

Tropical Cyclone Maila reached Category 5 strength in the Solomon Sea and caused major flooding and destruction across eastern PNG and the Solomon Islands.

In a statement issued on Sunday, PNG Prime Minister James Marape said that the government has begun mobilising essential relief supplies, including food rations, clean water, medical supplies and temporary shelters.

“We will make sure we reach every place, every island, and every community that has been affected,” he said.

Tropical Cyclone Maila was initially forecast to hit the southeastern tip of the island of New Guinea as a Category 2 or 3 storm, but has since been downgraded to a tropical low, Xinhua news agency reported.

The system has been a destructive force through the Pacific region, destroying buildings, creating huge waves, storm surges and landslides.

Earlier on April 8, three people had been reported missing in the Solomon Islands as emergency warnings remain in place in eastern Papua New Guinea (PNG) after Tropical Cyclone Maila reached Category 5 strength in the Solomon Sea.

Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology had said that Tropical Cyclone Maila was a Category 5 storm in the Solomon Sea around 425 km west of Honiara and 980 km east of Port Moresby.