Fifteen people feared dead after landslide buries Papua New Guinea village

Fifteen people are missing, feared dead, after a landslide in a remote region of Papua New Guinea. Photo / Supplied, RNZ

By RNZ

Fifteen people are missing after a landslide in a remote part of Papua New Guinea's Central Province.

The area in Goilala District is the site of an informal alluvial mining camp, where people were panning for gold.

Villagers have been working by hand to recover those buried by a landslide in Goilala, PNG. Photo / Supplied, RNZ

Disaster officials have been flown to the site in a region accessible only by foot or helicopter.

The local MP, William Samb, said two bodies had been recovered. But 15 people, including three children, were still missing.

Locals were working with whatever tools they had to try to recover people, but he said there were unlikely to be any survivors.

The slip happened in the early hours of Monday near an alluvial mine camp. Photo / Supplied, RNZ

Tools including spades, bush knives and chainsaws along with food rations were being flown to the valley, EMTV reported.

The landslide happened in the early hours of Monday, sweeping away makeshift shelters on the ridge.

Samb said he believed days of continuous rain, along with the clearing of the forest by miners, had contributed to the disaster.

Heavy rain has hampered recovery efforts, and there are fears the slip could have created a dam which now imperils downstream villages.