SYDNEY: Hundreds are feared dead after a massive landslide levelled dozens of homes and buried families alive in a remote village in northern Papua New Guinea (PNG) early on Friday morning.

More than 50 homes, many with people asleep inside, were buried when the landslide hit Kaokalam village around 3:00am local time.

Papua New Guinea, an island country, lies in the south-western Pacific. It comprises the eastern half of New Guinea and many small offshore islands. Its neighbours include Indonesia to the west, Australia to the south and the Solomon Islands to the southeast.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation and other local media reported that more than 100 people had been killed.

“It’s very difficult to get them out.”

One man who turned back to try and save his two children was buried along with his extended family.

Social media footage showed people clambering over rocks, uprooted trees and mounds of dirt searching 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,” a villager said.

The village is in Enga province, about 600km north of the capital, Port Moresby.

Prime Minister James Marape said in a statement he was yet to be fully briefed, but that authorities were responding to the disaster.

Published in Dawn, May 25th, 2024