Earthquake Response – Papua New Guinea (as of 7th March)
Following the 7.6 magnitude earthquake that hit Papua New Guinea on February 26th and the many strong aftershocks, MAF PNG has been working hard to bring relief, supplies and medical assistance to those affected. Below are the latest information and some stories sourced from our team on the ground, as of 7th March 2018.
Thank you to everyone for your continued concern, prayer and support.
Flight Preparation
Activity is high at MAF’s Mt Hagen Base where flights are being planned, aircraft are being prepared and dispatched taking much needed goods and supplies provided by Western Highlands and Jiwaka business groups and communities to the earthquake-stricken communities in Hela, Southern Highlands and Western provinces.
7th March Flights
Just to give you some numbers from today’s flights and efforts to get supplies out to the most affected villages:
Deliveries carried out on 7th March using C208 and Twin Otter
· Bosavi: 200kg rice, 304kg water
· Muluma: 200kg rice, 176kg water + supplies
· Walagu: 736kg water, 460kg rice, 3 canvas, supplies
· Huya (DHC6): 551kg water, 255kg tin fish, 480kg rice and some other supplies and on the way out we did the Medevac and brought back a pregnant lady, a boy with an injured head and a young man with a twisted elbow.
Flight to Huya
The Twin Otter this morning took relief supplies out to Huya and brought back some patients to Mt Hagen. A father and son who had hurt themselves when running out of their house during an earthquake; a man who twisted his elbow while running out of his house and a highly pregnant woman just to make sure she is in good care when the baby arrives.
After that, the Twin Otter did two more supply flights into the earthquake-stricken area and one more flight was done by the Hagen based Caravan. Our Kiunga based Caravan also is involved in bringing help and hope to these people in need.
Pilot Luke Newell
MAF pilots were busy flying out to different airstrips yesterday. Australian Pilot Luke Newell went to Muluma and Bosavi to drop help in the form of relief goods. He feels sorry for all the affected people and wants to help: “I see houses that have collapsed, injuries and also gardens that are breaking up. Through this, their food for tomorrow has been destroyed.”
To support MAF’s Emergency Relief efforts please donate here: https://maf.org.au/png-earthquake/
Earthquake Response – Papua New Guinea: As of 6th March CLICK HERE
Earthquake Response – Papua New Guinea: As of 1st March CLICK HERE