Police in the provincial capital of Mendi said the landslide occurred at the village of Tagali early Saturday and rescue efforts were continuing.

Twenty-one people reported to have been injured were taken to the hospital at Tari for treatment.

It was unclear how many more were injured and how many had been in the immediate area, which lies in an isolated and inaccessible part of the highlands where such landslides are not uncommon.

Assistant police commissioner Tony Waigambe told the Australian Broadcasting Corp that efforts to rescue anyone still trapped in the debris from the slip were continuing.

"The ones that we have found are the ones that were next to the road," the police chief said.

"The main house that people were camping in is some distance from the kerb road, so it may take some time to remove all the debris to get into there."

SPACE.WIRE