As many as 60 people are feared dead after a massive landslide wiped out an entire village in a scene of ''utter devastation'' in Papua New Guinea, according to reports and aid workers.
The disaster struck near a huge ExxonMobil liquefied natural gas project in the country's rugged southern highlands on Tuesday as people slept, leaving a trail of destruction. An aerial shot showed mud and other debris extending for at least one kilometre across a forested area.
Papua New Guinea's media said 40 bodies had been recovered and another 20 people were still missing. The director of the country's National Disaster Centre, Martin Mose, said it appeared lives had been lost but he could not verify how many.
''It was a big landslide and it covered a big area where there used to be small hamlets, so we are expecting a number of deaths,'' he said.
The area's MP, Francis Potape, said the landslide completely covered two villages while people slept. ''There are people buried underneath and a number of them are, from what I have heard, children,'' he reportedly told the The National. The Prime Minister, Peter O'Neill, was reportedly rushing to the scene, near Tari.
Nanduka Yandi, an aid worker for the US non-government organisation Population Services International, was at the scene of the landslide soon after it happened. He said many people were killed and few had escaped.
''It covered 42 houses and only three or four people managed to escape. Everyone else died,'' he said by telephone. ''It is quite remote and yesterday there was hardly anyone here to dig out the bodies or help people. People lost their entire families. They are in shock.''
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