A giant mudslide smashed through five villages in a remote mountain area and at least 76 people were feared dead, officials and news reports said Thursday. A relief operation was under way but heavy rain and the isolation of the area was hampering rescuers. Papua New Guinea, with a mainly Melanesian population of 3.3 million, is just north of Australia. Minister for State John Giheno said the slide occurred Tuesday morning and swept through Mitsing, Malafan, Zumara and Tari villages in the mountainous Kaiapit district of Morobe province, some 185 miles north of Port Moresby, the capital. The Australian Associated Press reported a fifth village, Marafau, was destroyed. It quoted one horrified villager as saying the mudslide turned Marafau into a mass graveyard, which ``fell away like a sliced piece of meat.'' ``It was all over in about five minutes,'' AAP quoted the witness as saying. AAP said many children were orphaned and left homeless by the slide, which it said covered an area about 12 miles long. The news service said children were away at school when the slide hit. Giheno said one body had been recovered and that 615 other villagers had been accounted for. ``At this stage 75 people are missing, presumed dead,'' he said. The villages are about 4,950 feet above sea level. Houses in the area are mainly flimsy traditional grass-thatched structures built on stilts. Villagers barely make a living by raising pigs and farming sweet potatoes. Giheno flew over the stricken area by helicopter early Thursday and then launched an emergency appeal for clothing, blankets and cooking utensils. Officials from the National Disaster and Emergency Center were flying to the area to assess the situation, he said. ``Reports indicate the area is still very unstable,'' he said.
