Ethnic clash leaves one dead and houses burnt down in Lae

An ethnic clash had erupted at the Sialum compound in Lae yesterday.

The fight had first started on Saturday night when there was a confrontation between some groups of people in the area.

All the while, a youth who began acting violently came up on a group of people playing cards and demanded they give him money. These were the same group who had attacked  him earlier for demanding money from them.

The youth went away only to converge with a group of people to start a fight.

The fight intensified resulting in a youth from Okapa Eastern Highlands being shot dead and an elderly woman from Salamaua collapsing to her death.

Altogether, 20 people were injured and countless houses were burnt down during the fight.

 Police were deployed to the area and managed to break up the fighting but many people were left homeless and displaced.

Author: 
Annette Kora