More than 2,000 people were buried by a massive landslide in Papua New Guinea, the national disaster centre said on Monday, as the government officially asked for international help to reach communities trapped in remote villages where rescue efforts have been hampered by treacherous conditions. The numbers of those buried around Yambali village in Enga province in the country’s north are based on estimates from local authorities which have been rising steadily since Friday’s landslide. A UN agency put the estimated death toll at more than 670 people on Sunday. The National Disaster Centre raised the toll again to 2,000 in a letter to the UN on Sunday that was released publicly on Monday. The landslide also caused major destruction to buildings and food gardens, it said. “The situation remains unstable as the landslip continues to shift slowly, posing ongoing danger to both the rescue teams and survivors alike,” according to the letter. Over 2,000 people buried alive in deadly landslide in Papua New Guinea In a letter to the United Nations, an official of the Papua New Guinea national disaster centre said that more than 2,000 people were buried alive in Friday’s landslide. About 4,000 people were living near the affected area, CARE International Papua New Guinea (PNG) country director Justine McMahon told ABC television on Monday. But it is difficult to get an accurate estimate of the local population as PNG’s last credible census was in 2000 and many people live in remote mountainous villages. The country recently announced a census would be conducted in 2024. The unstable terrain, remote location and nearby tribal warfare are hampering relief efforts in Papua New Guinea. Australia prepares to send aircraft, equipment Australia on Monday prepared to send aircraft and other equipment to help at the disaster site as overnight rains in the South Pacific nation’s mountainous interior raised fears that the tons of rubble that buried hundreds of villagers could become dangerously unstable. Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles said his officials have been talking with their Papua New Guinea counterparts since Friday, when a mountainside collapsed on Yambali village in Enga province, which the United Nations estimates killed 670 people. The remains of only six people had been recovered so far. “The exact nature of the support that we do provide will play out over the coming days,” Marles told Australian Broadcasting Corp. “We’ve got obviously airlift capacity to get people there. There may be other equipment that we can bring to bear in terms of the search and rescue and all of that we are talking through with PNG right now,” Marles added. Papua New Guinea is Australia’s nearest neighbor and the countries are developing closer defense ties as part of an Australian effort to counter China’s growing influence in the region. Australia is also the most generous provider of foreign aid to its former colony, which became independent in 1975.