Dozens feared dead after ‘massive’ landslide hits Papua New Guinea

A massive landslide has struck Papua New Guinea’s highlands, local officials and aid groups said, with dozens believed to have been killed.

The disaster hit Kaokalam village in Papua New Guinea’s Enga province, about 600km (370 miles) northwest of the South Pacific island nation’s capital of Port Moresby, at about 3am local time on Friday (17:00 GMT Thursday).

According to reports from the Australian Broadcasting Corp (ABC) and local media, about 100 people are believed to have been killed, but authorities have not confirmed this figure.

“Authorities say the scale of the landslide is ‘massive’, but they still cannot confirm the death toll,” said Al Jazeera’s Jessica Washington, reporting from Jakarta in Indonesia.

She said the disaster affected a community of mostly subsistence farmers living in a “remote and quite hilly area where landslides are common”.

“Many homes have been destroyed as well as the gardens that people rely on to feed themselves in these communities,” our correspondent added.

Enga’s provincial governor Peter Ipatas told the AFP news agency that a big landslide had caused “loss of life and property”. He said at least six villages had been affected.

Prime Minister James Marape said in a statement that he was yet to be fully briefed on the situation but assured that relevant authorities are working diligently to address the disaster.

“We are sending in disaster officials, PNG Defence Force, and the Department of Works and Highways to meet provincial and district officials in Enga and also start relief work, recovery of bodies, and reconstruction of infrastructure,” Marape said.

“I will release further information as I am fully briefed on the scale of destruction and loss of lives.”