More than 100 deaths feared in massive landslide in Papua New Guinea

Melbourne, Australia – More than 100 people are said to have died in a landslide that buried a village in a remote region of Papua New Guinea on Friday, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

The landslide reportedly hit the village of Kaokalam in Enga province, about 370 miles northwest of the South Pacific island nation’s capital, Port Moresby, at about 3 a.m. local time, ABC reported.

Residents currently believe the death toll is over 100, but authorities have not confirmed this figure. Villagers say the death toll could be much higher.

Villager Ninga Role told Reuters that more than 50 houses, many with people sleeping inside, were buried by the landslide. He said the death toll was close to 300, with his brother and cousin among the dead. It was unclear where he got his information from.

Role, who was not at home at the time of the landslide, told the Associated Press he believes at least four of his relatives have died. “There are huge rocks, plants and trees. The buildings have collapsed,” Role said. “These things make it difficult to find the bodies quickly.”

Videos on social media show locals recovering bodies from rocks and trees.

The Papua New Guinea government and police did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Elizabeth Laruma heads an association of women entrepreneurs in Porgera, a town in the same province near the Porgera gold mine. She said houses in the village were razed when a mountain side gave way.

“It happened when people were still sleeping in the early hours of the morning and the whole village was destroyed,” Laruma told ABC. “As far as I can tell, over 100 people are buried underground.”

The landslide has blocked the road between Porgera and the village, she said, raising concerns about the town’s supply of fuel and goods.

Belinda Kora, an ABC reporter from Port Moresby, said there had been no official comment from authorities more than 12 hours after the disaster.

Kora said the village in the mountainous interior known as the Highlands could only be reached by helicopter because the main road was closed.

Reuters reported that the landslide had affected operations at the Porgera gold mine, operated by Barrick Gold through Barrick Niugini Ltd, a joint venture with China’s Zijin Mining, according to local media. Barrick Gold did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment outside normal business hours.

Papua New Guinea is a diverse developing country, with a population predominantly made up of subsistence farmers and 800 languages ​​spoken. There are few roads outside of the larger cities.

With 10 million inhabitants, it is also the most populous country in the South Pacific after Australia, where about 27 million people live.

Telecommunications are poor, especially outside Port Moresby, where 56% of the country’s social media users live, according to government data. Only 1.66 million people across the country use the internet, and 85% of the population lives in rural areas.

The region lies just south of the equator and is frequently hit by heavy rains, Agence France-Presse reports. This year there have been heavy rains and floods. In March, at least 23 people were killed in a landslide in a nearby province.