Hundreds are feared dead after a massive landslide flattened dozens of homes and buried families alive in a remote village in northern Papua New Guinea, a resident has said.
More than 50 homes, many with people still asleep inside, were buried when the landslide hit Kaokalam village about 3am on Friday, villager Ninga Role told Reuters by phone.
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The death toll was almost 300, among them Role’s brother and cousin, he said.
Australian broadcaster ABC and other local media reported more than 100 people had been killed.
One man who turned back to try to save his two children was buried along with his extended family, Role said.
‘It’s very difficult to get them out’
Social media footage posted by Role showed people clambering over rocks, uprooted trees and mounds of dirt as they searched for survivors.
Women could be heard weeping in the background.
“It’s very impossible — the area covered by the landslide is large and there are rocks and trees everywhere,” Role said.
“It’s very difficult to get them out.”
The village is in Enga province, about 600km north of the capital Port Moresby.
Prime Minister James Marape said in a statement he had 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 on Friday.
“I will release further information as I am fully briefed on the scale of destruction and loss of lives.”
The landslide hit a section of highway near the Porgera gold mine, operated by Barrick Gold through Barrick Niugini Ltd, its joint venture with China’s Zijin Mining.
A spokesperson said it was too soon to know whether there had been any damage to the mine, which had enough supplies to operate normally in the short term.