MELBOURNE, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Authorities said on Wednesday that 12 more people have died after eastern Papua New Guinea (PNG) was hit by Severe Tropical Cyclone Maila, taking the total reported death toll to 23.
Jelta Wong, the Member of Parliament for the Gazelle District in PNG's East New Britain Province, told The National newspaper that 10 people died when they were buried by a landslide in the remote Lamarain village on Sunday.
He said that all 10 bodies were successfully recovered and described the loss as a "profound sorrow" for the community.
The landslide was caused by continuous heavy rainfall brought by Severe Tropical Cyclone, which hit eastern PNG over the weekend, causing widespread damage.
Randal Ganisi, the disaster coordinator in the Milne Bay Province, told The National that two deaths have been reported in the region.
He said that teams have been deployed to island communities to assess how many people have been displaced and the extent of damage.
It comes after 11 deaths were reported on Monday in the autonomous Bougainville region, including eight who were killed in a landslide.
PNG's state-owned National Broadcasting Corporation on Tuesday reported that a state of emergency has been declared for the entire Bougainville region amid widespread destruction of infrastructure, mass displacement of communities and an escalating humanitarian crisis caused by the cyclone. ■
