PORT MORESBY (AFP) - Three bodies were pulled from a massive landslide which was feared to have buried another 16 people alive in remote Papua New Guinea, local media said Wednesday.

At least five houses were buried when heavy rains collapsed a wall of earth up to 200 metres (yards) wide over Firangka village in Morobe province on the northwest coast Monday, the National newspaper reported.

"It came so suddenly there was nothing we could do," villager Bobby Toby said. "There were no warning signs, no earthquakes - it just happened."

Villagers slept through the collapse and did not realise it had happened ntil dawn broke, the paper said.

The bodies of a woman and two men were recovered, with 16 others, including children, missing and feared dead.

Deputy provincial administrator Patilias Gamato said Morobe had a history of disasters during the wet period and urged caution, particularly in remote areas.

In March at least seven people were killed in a landslide after torrential rains fell in the country's Eastern Highlands. Last December 10 people were killed at a gold mine camp when a mudslide ripped down a steep incline.