Major landslide hits PNG, more than 100 feared dead
MELBOURNE, Australia — More than 100 people are believed to have been killed on Friday in a landslide that buried a village in a remote part of Papua New Guinea, Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.
The landslide reportedly hit Kaokalam village in Enga Province, about 600 kilometers northwest of the South Pacific island nation's capital Port Moresby, at roughly 3 am local time.
Residents said current estimates of the death toll are above 100, although authorities have not confirmed this figure. Villagers said the number of people killed could be much higher.
Videos on social media showed locals pulling out bodies buried under rocks and trees.
Elizabeth Laruma, who runs a women's business association in Porgera, a town in the same province near the Porgera Gold Mine, said village houses were flattened when the side of a mountain gave way.
"It occurred when people were still asleep in the early hours, and the entire village has gone down," Laruma told ABC. "From what I can presume, it's about 100-plus people who are buried beneath the ground."
More than 50 homes, many with people still asleep inside, were buried when the landslide hit Kaokalam, villager Ninga Role told Reuters by phone.
The landslide blocked the road between Porgera and the village, she said, raising concerns about the town's own supply of fuel and goods.
The country's Prime Minister James Marape said in a statement he was yet to be fully briefed, but that authorities were responding to 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."
An emergency response team has been sent to the northern Enga Province after the landslide, local media reported.
Agencies via Xinhua
