Papua New Guinea says more than 2,000 people buried in landslide; pleads for help

Port Moresby: More than 2,000 people are feared buried in a Papua New Guinea landslide that destroyed a remote highland village, the government said o...

Port Moresby: More than 2,000 people are feared buried in a Papua New Guinea landslide that destroyed a remote highland village, the government said on Monday, as it pleaded for international help in the rescue effort.

The once-bustling hillside community in Enga province was almost wiped out when a chunk of Mount Mungalo collapsed early Friday morning, smothering scores of homes and the people sleeping inside them.

"The landslide buried more than 2,000 people alive and caused major destruction to buildings, food gardens and caused major impact on the economic lifeline of the country," Papua New Guinea's national disaster centre said in a letter to the United Nations obtained by AFP.

The main highway to the large Porgera gold mine was "completely blocked", it told the UN resident coordinator's office in the capital Port Moresby.