PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea — It is now "very unlikely" that more victims of a deadly landslide in Papua New Guinea will be found alive, a UN official told Agence France-Presse on Tuesday.

"It is not a rescue mission, it is a recovery mission," UNICEF Papua New Guinea's Niels Kraaier said.

"It is very unlikely they will have survived."

Papua New Guinea says some 2,000 people are feared buried in a landslide that destroyed a remote highland community in the early hours of May 24.

With rescue and relief efforts hampered by the remote location, a severed road link, heavy rainfall and nearby tribal violence, Enga provincial administrator Sandis Tsaka warned the disaster could yet worsen.

About 7,900 people from remote villages are being evacuated, with the ground around the landslide still moving.

"The tragedy is still active," Tsaka said. "Every hour you can hear rock breaking — it is like a bomb or gunshot and the rocks keep falling down."

"This was an area heavily populated with homes, businesses, churches and schools, it has been completely wiped out. It is the surface of the moon — it is just rocks," said Tsaka.