However, due to rumours on social media, many are fleeing their villages on the mountain and are going to the valleys away from the mountain. This is a bad choice. First, there is a great danger of flooding in the valleys right now. Secondly, helicopters are bringing food, water, and medical aid to the villages and if you leave the villages they won’t be able to find you. MAF, CRMF, and many other aid agencies are requesting that you stay near your village so they can find you.

MAF and CRMF continue to coordinate emergency medical plane flights for those who have no roads to get to a hospital. If you need an emergency plane flight to a hospital, please call MAF at 7373 9988 or 7373 9882. While telephones are not working in many places, the CRMF HF radio network is still up and running and people can use it to call for medical assistance on CRMF emergency channel 5 (frequency 5895). Please let us know about emergency medical problems as they are our priority.

We are also collecting information about other problems such as damaged air strips, road closures, polluted water supplies, food shortages, and damages to clinics, schools and other important buildings. MAF is passing that information on the relevant government authorities.

Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) and its associated ministry, Christian Radio Missionary Fellowship (CRMF), have been serving the people of PNG since the early 1950’s. You can find out more about these organizations at:

Share this story…