Fifteen people are missing after a landslide in a remote part of Papua New Guinea's Central Province.
15 people are believed to have been buried by the landslide in the Papua New Guinea district of Goilala. Photo: Supplied
The area in Goilala District is the site of an informal alluvial mining camp, where people were panning for gold.
Disaster officials have been flown to the site in a region only accessible by foot or helicopter.
The local MP, William Samb, said two bodies had been recovered. But 15 people, including three children, were still missing.
Villagers have been working by hand to recover those buried by a landslide in the Papua New Guinea district of Goilala. Photo: Supplied
Locals were working with whatever tools they had to try to recover people, but he said there were unlikely to be any survivors.
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 morning, sweeping away makeshift shelters on the ridge.
The slip happened in the early hours of Monday morning near an alluvial mine camp. Photo: Supplied
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.