15 Mar 2014

Search underway in Vanuatu for six people following a landslide

1:17 pm on 15 March 2014

Vanuatu's Disaster Management Office says search efforts are underway on Santo for six people missing following a landslide which destroyed their tiny village.

The landslide was caused by heavy rainfall from tropical cyclone Lusi which swept through the country earlier in the week leaving three people dead.

Two of the dead were hit by falling tree branches in their garden, and there are concerns the death toll may rise.

The office's director, Shadrack Welegtabit, says an aerial surveilance was carried out on Friday and officials are still assessing it.

Mr Welegtabit says most people displaced by the cyclone earlier in the week have returned home but an evacuation centre on Emae island remains open as many people there lost their homes.

He says most of damage is to food crops and roads.