Many feared dead in massive Papua New Guinea landslide

Many are feared dead after a massive landslide struck six remote villages in Papua New Guinea, local officials and aid agencies said.

The landslide occurred at 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 buried more than 100 houses, Vincent Pyati, president of the local Community Development Association, told AFP news agency.

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 the incident was an "unprecedented natural disaster" that caused "substantial damages".

Images online show dozens of people climbing onto fallen boulders to survey the damage from the landslide. Many houses appeared to have collapsed and trees uprooted.

Rescuers are having a hard time sifting through the debris, reports say.

People can be heard crying and yelling on a video posted by Facebook user Kindupan Kambii from Kaokalam village in Enga.

International humanitarian organisation CARE told the BBC it is "currently undergoing a situation assessment" on the incident.

Enga is more than 600km by road from the country's capital, Port Moresby.