2,000 buried in PNG landslide

Call made for assistance in recovery efforts

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea — More than 2,000 people have been buried in a Papua New Guinea landslide that destroyed a remote highland village, the government said on Monday as it called for international help in the rescue effort.

The once-bustling hillside village in Enga Province was almost wiped out when a chunk of Mount Mungalo collapsed in the early hours of Friday morning, smothering 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 center said in a letter to the UN, which was obtained by Agence France-Presse.