Sydney, May 28 (IANS): Thousands of residents are being evacuated from the still-active massive landslide in Papua New Guinea's remote Enga province on Tuesday after parts of a mountain collapsed, burying over 2,000 people.

Nearly 8,000 people have been told to be on standby for evacuation from the landslide-prone area, Radio New Zealand Pacific reported on Tuesday.

Enga provincial disaster committee chairperson and provincial administrator Sandis Tsaka said some were already being evacuated, but the number was unclear.

The Papua New Guinea National Disaster Center has confirmed that more than 2,000 people were buried alive after the massive landslide occurred early Friday in Enga province, Xinhua news agency reported.

Serhan Aktoprak, chief of mission for the International Organization for Migration in the Pacific island country, told Xinhua that the UN migration agency received the statement on Monday.

According to the statement issued by the centre's acting director, Lusete Laso Mana, the disaster also caused major destruction to buildings and food gardens and led to a major impact on the economic lifeline of the country.