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At least 670 people are dead and the search is on for survivors after a massive landslide in Papua New Guinea a couple of days ago.
The landslide struck very early in the morning on Friday, around 3 am, and sent massive rocks and tons of dirt tumbling down on three villages in the Enga Province. The province is quite secluded and is in the central part of Papua New Guinea within a valley, meaning that only one main road goes in and out of the villages. Since the valley walls are steep and consistent, heavy rains are common, landslides occur a lot. However, officials have stated that this could be one of the country's largest landslides ever.
The death toll was originally placed at a few dozen, but it quickly rose by hundreds as bodies were discovered throughout the weekend. Over 4,000 people live in the area buried by the landslide, but the number of people in the villages may have been much more due to the fact that numerous residents of surrounding villages had come to the area to get away from nearby conflicts between native tribes. Many of the homes in the villages were crushed by up to 20 feet of dirt and rock, and large, dangerous boulders also took out multiple buildings after they came plummeting down the hill. Since the landslide occurred so early in the morning, residents were caught completely off guard. Officials believe that even though the toll has already reached 670, it could dramatically rise even more in the near future.
The town is also quite dense and packed together, meaning that it is easy to take out a large percentage of the village with a strong landslide because every building is so close to the next one. This disaster took out an area the size of three to four soccer fields, which is a considerable amount of the valley. Included in that area were homes, businesses, and a large stretch of the main highway that travels through the villages.
Aid like shelter and water arrived quickly, and more supplies like mattresses and various foods are on the way. As the main road has been blocked by debris, the villages are only accessible by helicopter, which makes the scenario more complicated. One team of rescuers has managed to reach the site and is helping to dig through the ruins, while the townspeople are pitching in by digging with everything from sticks to pitchforks.
Violence between various tribes in the area is not helping, as 8 others were killed in the conflict. They also burned down 5 stores and 30 homes, meaning that they may not hesitate to attack incoming vehicles carrying crucial aid.
Survivors are now taking shelter under temporary tarps as search-and-rescue crews carefully sift through the rubble to look for any bodies or even people who may have been buried and have managed to stay alive until now.
On another note, the IPL final in Chennai between the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Sunrisers Hyderabad yesterday was action-packed! Here's the rundown:
The Sunrisers Hyderabad seemed to be doomed from the start in Chennai, with the team losing their first two opening batsmen in the first two overs after electing to bat first. Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma have been crucial to the team this year, bringing in a large portion of their runs. Sharma was dismissed in the first over after being bowled by Mitchell Starc, and Head went out with a golden duck to show for his efforts after being caught by the slip on the first ball he faced (bowled by Vaibhav Arora).
From there, the Sunrisers' batsmen went down like bowling pins, losing Rahul Tripathi in the fifth over and Nitish Kumar Reddy in the seventh. By the time the 10-over mark came around, they were already 4 wickets down, and they lost Aiden Markram, Shahbaz Ahmed, and Impact Player Abdul Samad in the next three consecutive overs. Heinrich Klaasen became their last chance, and he was quickly dismissed after being bowled by Harshit Rana. The Sunrisers were then 90/8 with 6 overs to go, and Jaydev Unadkat and captain Pat Cummins came in to bat. Both went out in the next few overs, meaning that the Sunrisers finished their innings 9 balls early with a mere 113 runs and no wickets to spare.
Then, the Kolkata Knight Riders came out to bat. Sunil Narine, the team's shining star this season, slammed a six in the second over and then went out on the next ball after mistiming a hit, and hope returned to the Sunrisers. However, those hopes were quickly dashed as opening batsman Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Venkatesh Iyer carried KKR to victory. Gurbaz went out before the end for 39 runs, though, allowing captain Shreyas Iyer to come in and help Venkatesh finish the game off. In the end, Venkatesh Iyer was the true star of their batting, playing a fine knock of 52 runs off 26 balls.
The Kolkata Knight Riders won the match by 8 wickets with 57 balls left, giving them their third-ever IPL victory after their wins in 2012 and 2014. Mitchell Starc was declared Man of the Match after his two crucial wickets (Sharma and Tripathi) against Hyderabad, and Sunil Narine was declared Player of the Tournament after his amazing batting and bowling this season. Congratulations to KKR fans! Avid cricket fans will now be awaiting the beginning of the T20 World Cup on June 1, which is sure to be exciting!
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