World

Many Killed In New Guinea Landslide

October 8, 1998 / 4:43 AM EDT / AP

Seven people were killed in a landslide in a remote section of Papua New Guinea, an official said Thursday, denying other reports that up to 140 people had perished.

The deputy provincial administrator of Enga province, Wakaf Macksaen, said the landslide happened before dawn Tuesday in an isolated area southeast of Maramuni Station in the north of the province. One young girl survived, he said.

Macksaen, who visited the site of the landslide at Pafalangus village Thursday, said the landslide carried away two flimsy houses and earlier reports of up to 140 deaths were "all wrong."

Three or four of the bodies had already been recovered, he said.

His account contradicted a report in The National newspaper, which said a church congregation was buried alive last Friday. Eight bodies had been recovered and a 9-year-old girl was the sole survivor of the disaster, the newspaper said.

Teata Poko, a spokesman for the National Broadcasting Commission in the Enga provincial capital of Wabag, said reports filtering down from the isolated region were that many more had died.

"The landslide is believed to have killed up to 140 people," Poko said.

Confirmation of details was difficult because Maramuni Station is in a very remote area with no road or telephone links.

Papua New Guinea consists of half of the Pacific Ocean island of New Guinea as well as several archipelagos.