PORT MORESBY — More than 100 people are feared dead in a remote village in northern Papua New Guinea after it was hit by a major landslide, officials said Friday, as rescue workers scramble to reach the site.

The disaster hit the village of Kaokalam in Enga province, about 600 kilometers (372 miles) northwest of the capital, Port Moresby, Australian public broadcaster ABC reported. The remoteness of the affected village is hindering rescue efforts.

The number of people killed or missing is “very fluid,” but more than 100 people are believed to be dead, Janet Philemon, Caretaker and National Treasurer of the Papua New Guinea Red Crescent Society (PNGRCS), told CNN.

“Access is limited due to the landslide over the main highway leading into the community,” Philemon said. “The community themselves are responding, trying to bring out and uncover those that have been buried under the landslide.”

The provincial government, health and police officials, defense forces and international agencies are working to make their way to the location, she added.

“The local community are trying their best they can with whatever tools they have at their disposal,” Philemon said.

She added that an earthquake had hit the area a few days prior, which she believed could have contributed to the cause of the landslide.

Prime Minister James Marape said in a statement that authorities were working to address the disaster.

“We are sending in disaster officials, PNG Defence Force, and the Department of Works and Highways to meet provincial and district officials in Enga and also start relief work, recovery of bodies, and reconstruction of infrastructure,” Marape said in a statement, according to the ABC and Reuters news agency.

“I extend my heartfelt condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the landslide disaster.”

In comments reported by the ABC, officials said houses were flattened when the side of a nearby mountain gave way.

Enga Province Governor Peter Ipatas told the AFP news agency that the landslide caused “loss of life” and damaged property. CNN has reached out to local authorities, including Ipatas, as well as the national police and the country’s disaster management agency.

Footage of the aftermath carried by AFP showed a wide scar of mud and rocks on a steep mountainside slope and locals clambering to look for survivors.

A Pacific nation home to around 10 million people, Papua New Guinea is rich in resources, but its economy has long trailed those of its neighbors, and it has one of the highest crime rates in the world.

Violence remains widespread. Chaos erupted in the capital earlier this year after police walked off the job in protest over a drop in their pay, which government officials later blamed on a computer glitch in the payroll system. Shops were looted and buildings set on fire during the disturbance.

Hundreds of tribes are spread across the country’s remote and often inaccessible terrain. But its vast and diverse mountainous landscape, as well as a lack of roads, has made it difficult and costly to upgrade basic services like water, electricity and sanitation. — CNN