Sydney, May 24, (dpa/GNA) – More than 100 people are feared to have been killed in a landslide in Papua New Guinea, the Australian public broadcaster ABC reported on Friday.

The landslide reportedly hit Kaokalam Village in Enga Province, about 600 kilometres north-west of the nation’s capital Port Moresby in the early hours of Friday, ABC reported.

Authorities have not confirmed the death toll.

The landslide had also blocked a road to the town of Porgera, where a large gold mine is located.

“The landslip has buried homes and food gardens, leaving an unknown number of people trapped under the debris. The full extent of the casualties is yet to be confirmed,” local media site JB143 wrote on Facebook.

Simon Birmingham, the leader of the opposition in Australia’s Senate, pledged bipartisan support for Canberra to provide assistance.

“A tragic event in our near & dear friend, Papua New Guinea. Early images & reports are shocking in their severity,” he wrote on X.

Papua New Guinea, with a population of almost 10 million people, lies just north of Australia. Despite being rich in minerals, timber, oil and gas, its history of colonialism, political instability and mismanagement of resources has kept its people impoverished.

GNA