Brian McDonald
Melbourne, Australia – More than 100 people are believed to have died on Friday in a landslide that buried a village in a remote part of Papua New Guinea, 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 around 3 a.m. local time, ABC reported.
Residents say current estimates of the death toll are above 100, although authorities have not confirmed that number. Residents said the number of people killed could be much higher.
Videos on social media show residents removing bodies that were buried under rocks and trees.
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The Papua New Guinea government and police did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Elizabeth Laruma, who runs a women’s business association in Porgera, a town in the same province near the Porgera Gold Mine, said houses in the village were destroyed when a mountainside gave way.
“It happened when people were still sleeping in the early hours of the morning and the whole village collapsed,” Laruma told ABC. “From what I can gather, there are about 100 people buried underground.”
The landslide blocked the road between Porgera and the village, she said, raising concerns about the town’s own fuel and goods supplies.
Village resident Ninga Role, who was away when the landslide occurred, expects at least four of his family members to have died.
“There are some huge rocks, plants and trees. The buildings have collapsed,” Role said. “These things are making it difficult to locate bodies quickly.”
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Reuters reports that local media said the landslide affected operations at the Porgera gold mine, which is managed by Barrick Gold through Barrick Niugini Ltd, a joint venture with China’s Zijin Mining. Barrick Gold did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment outside normal business hours.
Papua New Guinea is a diverse and developing nation, made up mainly of subsistence farmers, with 800 languages. There are few roads outside the larger cities.
With 10 million inhabitants, it is also the most populous nation in the South Pacific, after Australia, which has around 27 million inhabitants.
Located just south of the equator, the area receives heavy and frequent rainfall, Agence France-Presse highlights, adding that there has been heavy rain and flooding this year. At least 23 people died in a landslide in a nearby province in March.
