Papua New Guinea landslide leaves many feared dead as remote villages hit | BBC News

A massive landslide is feared to have killed many after it struck six remote villages in Papua New Guinea, local officials and aid agencies said.

The landslide buried more than 100 homes after it struck at around 03:00 local time Friday (17:00 GMT Thursday) in the highlands of Enga, north of the island nation in the south-west Pacific.

It was not immediately clear how many people were trapped in the rubble and no casualties have been officially confirmed.

Enga governor Peter Ipatas told AFP news agency it was an “unprecedented natural disaster”.

Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape said his government has sent disaster officials to the landslide site to “start relief work, recovery of bodies, and reconstruction of infrastructure”.

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