A student has reportedly suffered burns to his face whilst attempting to contain a fire to student accommodation, at the University of PNG main campus.
The Games Village Block 1 went up in flames at around 7.30am today.
It is believed the fire started on the ground floor, room number three, which was a self-contained room used as storage space.
Students rushed with buckets of water to contain the fire that was spreading rapidly through mattresses and other items stored in there.
One of the students was injured in the process and rushed to the hospital.
The male student warden and building resident, Samuel Banake, said the cause of the fire is yet to be established.
“I really don’t know the cause of the fire but when it started burning the mattresses, the flames came out and then the students were rushing towards the scene to contain the fire.”
Banake also pointed out the unruly behaviour of students in this part of the campus.
“Last night there were a lot of drunkards and the APEC bus was also damaged by some drunkards. Those suspects were apprehended by the university security,” Banake stated.
He added intoxicated students at Games Village have been causing a lot of social problems on campus.
Banake urged the UPNG management to look into this and create a conducive environment by empowering the university security force and students services.
Vice chancellor Frank Griffin told staff and students at Games Village that the fire investigation team will look into how the fire started.
“When they establish the cause of the fire then we will make a decision based on that,” he said.
(Picture and article by Albert Moses - final year UPNG journalism student)
