Landslide claims 3 members of a family

A landslide early this morning has taken away three young members of a family (1 girl, 2 boys) at New Valley Ridge, near Gilbert Camp, East Honiara.

The children were a sleep when the landslide of water, rocks and ground hit the two storey building before pouring into the down-floor, crashing into the children’s bed and their mother, killing the children and injuring their mum. The mother is now hospitalized, one of the first persons to be on the site of the incident and neighbor of the family told SBMOnline this morning.

“We tried to help but it was too late,” the neighbor, said.

He said the landslide fell so fast and hard against the house before pouring into the downstairs of the building where the mother and her children were sleeping.

He said it’s a very sad situation for the family and the community.

“These are their only children and all of them are taken in the landslide,” the neighbor said.

“We have been living together for many years here and this is the first tragedy to happen to our community,” he said.

Meanwhile, he said the father of the children is still not been seen as he was in a stake of shock.

Asked about the ages of the children, the neighbor said only the mother knows well their ages but he estimated that their ages to be between 6 to 13 years.

Meanwhile a leader in the community Henzi Boe (Henzzi Bwoy) is calling on responsible authorities to help the family.

He said the family urgently needs assistance at this time of their greatest loss.

“We feel so sorry for them and appeal to those responsible including the NDMO to help them urgently,” he said.

“This is a sad story and we must support the family,” said Boe.

He said as part of their support they would be collecting whatever they could to support the family from Malaita.

Non-stop rain over Honiara yesterday and last night has caused flooding in certain parts of the capital and minor landslide based on photos shared on social media.

The community confirmed that police was already on site and an investigation is underway.