Officials: More than 2,000 buried in Papua New Guinea landslide

May 27 (UPI) -- A landslide that has devastated a small rural village in northern Papua New Guinea last week buried more than 2,000 people alive, officials told the United Nations on Monday.

The United Nations was informed of the figure in a letter from Lusete Laso Mana, acting director of the National Disaster Center.

"The landslide buried more than 2,000 people alive and caused major destruction to buildings, food gardens and caused major impact on the economic lifeline of the country," Mana said in the letter obtained by CNN.

"The situation remains unstable as the landslip continues to shift slowly, posing ongoing danger to both rescue teams and survivors alike."

The earthquake-induced landslide struck early Friday in Kaokalam, Enga province, a mountainous region of the Oceanic country. The village is located about 373 miles northwest of the capital Port Moresby.

The revelation on Monday is nearly a three-fold increase from the 670 people Serhan Aktoprak, the U.N.'s migration head for Papua New Guinea, said Saturday were believed to have been buried alive under up to 26 feet of earth.

Some 150 homes are also believed to have been buried, Aktoprak said, which was an increase from the 90 previously reported.

The United Nations said Monday in a statement that it is assisting the government with coordinating response efforts, and was readying emergency shelter, food, water and other necessary relief supplies for transport and distribution.

U.S. President Joe Biden has said that his administration remains in contact with Papua new Guinean partners leading the rescue and recovery efforts and the United States is ready to offer assistance.

"At this dark hour, we will continue to coordinate with Papua New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand, and our Quad partners to ensure we're meeting our commitment to partner in delivering humanitarian assistance and disaster relief across the Indo-Pacific," Biden said in a statement Friday.