MELBOURNE - Some 11 bodies have been found after a landslide hit a small village in the Enga province of Papua New Guinea (PNG) in the early hours of Friday morning.

PNG newspaper Post Courier reported that the landslide hit the small village of Kukas, over 550 km northwest of the national capital of Port Moresby, at around 2 am local time on Friday.

Three homes were buried, and more than 20 people were reported missing.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) quoted the Governor of Enga province, Peter Ipatas, as saying that a local government disaster team has been deployed to the site to assist with the recovery of bodies and provide emergency assistance to survivors.

Kukas village is located in the Wapenamanda district of Enga province, about 64 km southeast of the Mulitaka area, where a major landslide in May 2024 claimed hundreds of lives.