Many 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 a newsman.

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.