News in Brief
Over 670 estimated dead in PNG landslide: UN
More than 670 people are believed to have died after a massive landslide in Papua New Guinea, a UN official told AFP on Sunday as aid workers and villagers braved perilous conditions in their search for survivors.
The once-bustling hillside village in Enga Province was almost completely obliterated when the landslide struck in the early hours of Friday morning, burying scores of homes and the people sleeping inside them.
“There are an estimated 150-plus houses now buried,” said UN migration agency representative Serhan Aktoprak, adding that “670-plus people are assumed dead”.
“The situation is terrible with the land still sliding. The water is running and this is creating a massive risk for everyone involved,” added Aktoprak, who oversees teams of emergency workers from Port Moresby.
Yemen’s Ansarallah frees over 100 war prisoners
The Ansarallah resistance movement in Yemen on Sunday released more than 100 war prisoners linked to the country’s long-running conflict, the International Committee of the Red Cross said.
The unilateral release came more than a year after Yemen’s warring sides freed more than 800 prisoners in a major exchange in the country in April last year, AP reported.
The release of 113 prisoners took place Sunday morning in the capital of Sana’a, the Red Cross said in a statement, adding that the released detainees were among those the ICRC visited and assisted regularly in their detention in the Yemeni capital. “We hope this paves the way for further releases, bringing comfort to families eagerly anticipating reunification with their loved ones,” said Daphnee Maret, the ICRC’s head of delegation in Yemen.