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Summary A massive landslide struck Papua New Guinea's highlands Friday, local officials and aid groups said, with many feared dead.

Content PORT MORESBY\\r\\nA massive landslide struck Papua New Guinea's highlands Friday, local officials and aid groups said, with many feared dead.\\r\\nThe disaster hit in Kaokalam village, in Papua New Guinea's mountainous interior, sending a cascade of earth and trees crashing down a steep slope, burying homes and people, said Robin Bazzinuk, managing director of the Adventist Aviation company, which operates widely in the region.\\r\\nHe said the landslide occurred early Friday morning and that the death toll was unclear because of the remoteness of the site and difficulties accessing it.\\r\\n\"It's a significant landslide, a whole side of a mountain, and there's a lot of debris, a lot of trees and gardens that have come down,\" Bazzinuk told The Associated Press by phone from Papua New Guinea's capital, Port Moresby.\\r\\nHe said there were unconfirmed reports of between 50 and 100 people dead. Bazzinuk said Adventist Aviation had received a request from the local governor to help with a rescue operation and was preparing to send a helicopter to the area.\\r\\nThe landslide occurred in the Rai Coast district of Madang province, about 560 kilometers (350 miles) north of Port Moresby. The area is remote and mountainous, with few roads and limited communication infrastructure.\\r\\nLandslides are common in Papua New Guinea, especially during the rainy season, which runs from November to April. The country is located in the Pacific Ocean's \"Ring of Fire,\" a zone of seismic activity where earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are common.

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