Massive landslide shakes Papua New Guinea, many deaths feared

Pictures from the scene of the accident showed a huge chunk of rock and earth breaking off from a densely vegetated hill.

A long and wide scar of car-sized boulders, felled trees and earth stretched to the valley floor.

At the foot of a large landslide, the remains of numerous corrugated iron shelters could be seen.

Dozens of local men and women climbed over the piles of rocks and earth, digging, screaming, listening for survivors or standing there in disbelief, looking at the scene.

Some immediately became rescuers, putting on rubber boots, strapping on headlamps and picking up machetes and long-handled axes to help clear away the rubble.

As they walked around, one could hear the crying of children being carried on their mothers’ backs.

“The landslide occurred around 3pm last night and it looks like more than 100 houses were submerged. It is not yet known how many people were in these houses,” Vincent Pyati, chairman of the local Community Development Association, told AFP.

“The number of victims is unknown.”

Aid groups including the Papua New Guinea Red Cross and CARE said they had received confirmation of the landslide but were working to find out more.

Since the region lies directly south of the equator, heavy rainfall is common.

This year there were heavy rains and floods.

In March, at least 23 people were killed in a landslide in a nearby province.

The Australian government said it was “making enquiries with local authorities to determine whether Australians are affected.”

“The Australian Government extends its condolences to the victims of the landslides in Papua New Guinea.”

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