Landslide Hits Papua New Guinea, Deaths Reported

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (AP) — A landslide has struck villages in central Papua New Guinea. Local media reports say 40 bodies have been recovered and 20 people remain missing.

The South Pacific island nation's National Disaster Center director Martin Mosi says several villages are close to where the landslide occurred early Wednesday near the town of Mendi and that fatalities are likely but unconfirmed.

Local lawmaker Francis Potape told Radio Australia's indigenous language service that the landslide completely covered two villages while people slept.