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

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

The landslide buried more than 100 homes after itstruck at around 03:00 local time Friday (17:00 GMTThursday) in the highlands of Enga, north of the islandnation in the south-west Pacific.

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

Enga governor Peter Ipatas told AFP news agency itwas an "unprecedented natural disaster".

Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister James Marapesaid his government has sent disaster officials to thelandslide site to "start relief work, recovery of bodies,and reconstruction of infrastructure".