Papua New Guinea landslide kills over 2,000 in remote village

A massive landslide in Papua New Guinea is feared to have buried over 2,000 people alive in a remote highland village, the African nation's government said on Monday.

The Papua New Guinea government has pleaded for international help in the rescue effort after hillside community in Enga province was almost wiped a chunk of Mount Mungalo collapsed in the early hours of last Friday.

The deadly landslide smothered scores of homes and the people sleeping inside them.

"The landslide buried more than 2,000 people alive and caused major destruction to buildings, food gardens and caused major impact on the economic lifeline of the country," Papua New Guinea's national disaster centre said in a letter to the United Nations, AFP reported.

According to the letter, the main highway to the large Porgera gold mine was "completely blocked".

The landslip was continuing to "shift slowly, posing ongoing danger to both the rescue teams and survivors alike", the disaster centre said.

The scale of the catastrophe required "immediate and collaborative actions from all players", it added, including the army, and national and provincial responders.

The centre also called on the UN to inform Papua New Guinea's development partners "and other international friends" of the crisis.

Meanwhile, the UN is scheduled to hold an online emergency meeting with foreign governments early Tuesday.

They will try to coordinate a relief effort that has been complicated by the remoteness of the site as well as the severed road link and ongoing tribal fighting nearby.