As many as 2,000 people are feared to have been buried by last week’s massive landslide in Papua New Guinea, according to the country’s National Disaster Centre, as survivors recounted the horror losing so many loved ones.

The landslide occurred in the mountainous Enga region in northern Papua New Guinea on Friday and the latest missing figure is a sharp rise from earlier estimates.

Locals have been left reeling after tonnes of rock and mud smashed into their homes as they slept. Rescuers have struggled to reach such a remote part of what is already one of Asia’s poorest nations leaving locals with little choice but to dig through the collapsed mountainside with whatever tools they have.

Evit Kambu shared that she had lost more than a dozen family members in the disaster.

“I have 18 of my family members buried under the debris and soil that I am standing on and a lot more family members in the village I cannot count,” she told Reuters news agency. “I am the landowner here… but I cannot retrieve the bodies so I am standing here helplessly.”

Miok Michael, a local community leader, told CNN that it was likely there were few survivors. “People are gathering and mourning,” he said. “People have been digging since day one but can’t locate bodies as they are covered by huge rocks. Only machines will do.”

But that may now be a major underestimate according to the latest projection from Papua New Guinea’s disaster agency.

“The landslide buried more than 2000 people alive and caused major destruction to buildings, food gardens and caused major impact on the economic lifeline of the country,” Lusete Laso Mana, Acting Director the National Disaster Centre, said in a letter to the UN.

“The situation remains unstable as the landslip continues to shift slowly, posing ongoing danger to both rescue teams and survivors alike,” he added, saying the main highway to the area had been completely blocked by the landslide.

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