CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Four people were killed and dozens injured Tuesday in election-related violence in a remote Papua New Guinea town, a nurse and journalists said.
The nurse at the Mount Hagen General Hospital told the Australian Associated Press four local men died of ax, knife and bullet wounds during fighting between supporters of rival candidates. The nurse’s name was not reported.
Earlier, Bob Howarth, managing director of the Pacific nation’s Post-Courier newspaper, said two people had died and a bodyguard also suffered severe head injuries protecting one of his reporters in Mount Hagen, about 250 miles northwest of the capital, Port Moresby.
The reporter, Robert Palme, was attacked during a riot at a polling station. He was not seriously hurt.
“Two men died and dozens were injured,” Howarth told the Associated Press. “It has just got totally out of control.”
The two fatalities Howarth referred to were believed to be among the four victims the nurse described. Further details were not immediately available.
Meanwhile, in Port Moresby a strike by electoral staff prevented thousands of voters in the capital of Papua New Guinea from casting ballots in the latest twist in a chaotic general election by the island state, a government spokesman said.
The disruption occurred in a city where voting had been extended for a second day following problems at the polls on Monday, including incomplete electoral rolls and shortages of ballots.
Staff at Port Morseby’s election committee went on strike because they had not been paid allowances, said Mark Davis, a spokesman for Prime Minister Mekere Morauta.
Other polling stations remained closed for a second day because logistical problems encountered Monday had not yet been resolved, the spokesman said.
“Voting was just another shambles,” he said.
The center in the capital where the prime minister cast his ballot Monday opened late because the ballot box and papers did not arrive on time.
Davis said that many voters were “upset and angry” but there had been no violence or other disturbances in the capital.
A large but impoverished Pacific island state, Papua New Guinea has been plagued by political instability, corruption and lawlessness since it gained independence from Australia in 1975.
Voting in Port Moresby was initially scheduled only for Monday but was extended to Tuesday. Outside of the capital, voting began Saturday and will last up to two weeks to allow people in remote villages to get to polling centers.
The sprawling nation of 5 million people is holding its seventh election since independence. It is being contested by almost 3,000 candidates from 43 political parties and includes hundreds of independents.
The makeup of the 109-seat Parliament will not be known until official results are released July 15.
