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Many reported died after a massive Landslide struck six remote villages in Papua New Guinea, local officials and aid agencies said.
The landslide buried more than 100 homes after it struck on Friday in the highlands of Enga, north of the island nation in the south-west Pacific.
It was not immediately clear how many people were trapped and no casualties have been officially confirmed.
Enga Governor, Peter Ipatas, told AFP news agency it was an “unprecedented natural disaster”.
Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape, in a statement said his government has sent disaster officials to the landslide site to “start relief work, recovery of bodies, and reconstruction of infrastructure”.
“I will release further information as I am fully briefed on the scale of destruction and loss of lives."
Many houses appeared to have collapsed and trees uprooted and rescuers are having a hard time sifting through the debris, reports say.
"There are reports of deaths and multiple casualties, but the exact numbers haven’t been confirmed yet,” said a spokesman from Papua New Guinea’s Red Cross Society.
International humanitarian organisation CARE told the BBC it is “currently undergoing a situation assessment” on the incident.
