2016 Alotau lockdown

Provincial Police Commander Chief Superintendent Joseph Morehari said the hostage hoax spread like wildfire and shocked the nation. It even gave the peaceful province a very negative image overseas.

He said an international cruise ship had to be diverted, thus costing the local tourism industry a lot of money. He added that it is not known how much damage this hoax will have caused to the local economy in the immediate and long term.

“We are investigating how it happened and we will deal with those responsible for creating the hoax,” Chief Superintendent Morehari said.

PNG Air CEO Muralee Siva said: “On Monday morning, three female PNG Air staff members were held up by two men armed with a home-made pistol and bush knife at our booking office in Alotau.

“A small amount of cash was taken during the hold up. 

“The three staff managed to barricade themselves in an office before being rescued by the police.”

Siva says they are grateful that no one was harmed during this incident and have been heartened by the many messages of support received from the local Milne Bay community. 

The late Pias was shot dead during an exchange of fire between police and an armed gang over the weekend.

Provincial Police Commander, Joseph Morehari, told TVWan news via telephone that officer Pias was shot as the armed gang was getting away after robbing the Jade Island Trading on Saturday, July 30^th.

PPC Morehari said some of the suspects were wounded by police, but managed to escape on a dinghy.

Provincial Police Commander, Joseph Morehari, told TVWan News today, he is more than certain that is the case, but has given orders for a full investigation to establish what led to the chaos.

After 5 hours of a ‘situation lock down’, Morehari said he was advised that PNG Air staff had locked themselves in because of an alleged armed robbery that was taking place in the shop next door.

However, they will still treat this as a hostage report until they establish what had actually happened yesterday.