Five die after boat capsizes off Papa New Guinea

Five people including two infants died after a boat capsized off Papua New Guinea's south coast as Cyclone Ingrid whipped up high winds in the area, authorities said.

The five were in an open banana boat with eight other people when it capsized in rough seas off Kerema in the Gulf of Papua on Tuesday night after a journey from Port Moresby, police said.

The bodies of the infants and their parents, whose ages were not available, were recovered and taken to Kerema but the body of a middle-aged man has yet to be found.

Acting Gulf Province administrator Chris Haro said the boat operator had defied strong wind warnings put out by the weather office and broadcast on radio as Cyclone Ingrid headed west across the Coral Sea towards far north Queensland.

Haro told The National newspaper the boat operator had been warned not to go out.

"According to information we received, several operators warned them not to travel due to the rough seas, but their operator insisted on travelling," he said.

Police in Kerema said the boat capsized near the shore and the survivors had been able to swim to safety.

Reports that alcohol was consumed during the journey were being investigated.

Ingrid made landfall on the Cape York Peninsula early today.

PNG's weather office said today gale and strong wind warnings were lifted for the south coast yesterday but the cyclone could still pose a threat to PNG communities on the Torres Strait and Gulf of Papua.

Earlier this week, strong winds, rain and driving seas associated with the cyclone caused shoreside damage and flooding in some villages on PNG's south coast.

- AAP