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Papua New Guinea Machete Attack: Australian Tourists Attacked By Bandits
Papua New Guinea Machete Attack: Hikers Attacked By Bandits
Black Cat Track, New Guinea – tourists from Australia and New Zealand had just arrived at this popular hiking trail for what was to be a memorable experience taking in the nature in the beautiful country side of this island nation.
They reported to police that no sooner hand they pitched their tents than as many as six bandits armed with machetes came into the camp and began attacking the group. The attackers targeted the porters first and hacked two of them to death with the remainder fleeing for their lives.
None of the tourists were killed but they suffered multiple lacerations to the head and extremities with one tourist taking a spear right in the leg. In all, eight of the tourists were hurt, but none were wounded seriously.
The porters did not fare so well. In addition to the two who were killed, nine others received injuries with six suffering life threatening wounds.
“They were basically set upon by the attackers and they started attacking them without warning,” PNG police spokesman Dominic Kakas said.
“One of the Australians was speared in the left leg. Another was slashed on his body … on the left arm. And he has a cut on his back and bruises, and a head laceration.
“The rest have some bruises and small cuts.”
Charlie Lynn, a veteran Kokoda Track trekking company operator and NSW Liberal MLC, tells The Age, an attack such as Tuesday’s was ‘‘inevitable’’.
‘‘The local people up there are the custodians of the land that’s sacred to us, and therefore we have to ensure that they get shared benefits out of the emerging trekking industry, and we have comprehensively failed to ensure that that happens. When they don’t get shared benefits, they get angry and then it explodes,’’ Mr Lynn said.
‘‘It was inevitable that this would happen.’’
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/world/australian-hikers-attacked-on-png-trail-as-two-porters-killed-by-bandits-20130911-2tj0o.html#ixzz2elm0dJxB
PNG Prime Minister told parliament the incident was “totally unacceptable to our way of living in our society” and he had “directed the Commissioner to dispatch a mobile unit in there immediately to take control of policing, not only in the incident area but the greater Wau area so that law and order is restored”.
Violent crime has been on the rise in this nation of seven million people which include beheadings and gang rapes. The government expanded the list of capital offenses, but apparently for the criminals the risk of losing one’s life isn’t as strong as the need they have of taking lives.
On The Web:
Papua New Guinea machete attack
http://travel.ca.msn.com/2-killed-tourists-hurt-in-papua-new-guinea-attack-1
Blood and horror on the Black Cat track – Aussie trekkers attacked in PNG, guides hacked to death
http://www.news.com.au/national-news/blood-and-horror-on-the-black-cat-track-aussie-trekkers-attacked-in-png-guides-hacked-to-death/story-fncynjr2-1226716581010
Australian hikers attacked on PNG trail as two porters killed by bandits
http://www.theage.com.au/world/australian-hikers-attacked-on-png-trail-as-two-porters-killed-by-bandits-20130911-2tj0o.html