Emergency services are urgently working to rescue victims of a devastating landslide in Papua New Guinea's remote Enga province, where hundreds of people are feared to have died.
Relief efforts have been hindered by challenging terrain and damage to main roads.
The landslide buried hundreds of homes in the highlands of Enga,in the north of the island nation in the southwest Pacific on Friday, the BBC reported.
The exact number of people trapped under the rubble remains unknown.
The United Nations Resident Coordinator's Office in Papua New Guinea told the BBC that the local emergency response team has so far recovered only three bodies.
They revealed that the team had also provided emergency medical assistance to six survivors, including one child.
Some 4,000 people live in the landslide area, but the number affected may be higher due to people fleeing nearby tribal conflicts.
Amos Akem, an Enga province member of Parliament, reported that the landslide buried over 300 people and 1,182 houses.
He added that rescue efforts were compromised by a blocked road connecting Yambali village to the capital. There is only one highway into Enga Province.
A UN official said the area affected by the landslide is as large as up to four football fields.
A resident from a nearby village said that when he arrived at the scene of the landslide, "there were no houses left."
On Friday, Papua New Guinean Prime Minister James Marape assured the public that authorities were responding to the disaster.
President Joe Biden said the U.S. stood ready to assist, describing Papua New Guinea as a "close partner and friend" of the U.S.
