A group of Australian and New Zealander tourists were attacked while hiking a trail in Papua New Guinea, leaving two porters dead and several of the trekkers injured.
Eight Australians and a New Zealander were on the popular Black Cat Track in Morobe Province on Tuesday when a clan of six peopoe brandishing machetes, bush knives, spears and guns attacked, the Associated Press reported.
Two porters were killed by the brutal attack. Nine were injured - six severely - but none of the wounds were fatal. They were moved to a medical facility in the Morobe capital of Lae, after the group was found by workers at a local mining company.
The miners guided the group back to their campsite, according to Stanley Komunt of Morobe Mining Joint Venture. He said the Aussies and Kiwis seemed seriously shaken by the event, but were doing better after some treatment, ABC Australia reported.
"They were walking, they were able to talk. The local police were onsite as well," he said. "They talked to them. We just provided support in terms of medicine, blankets, water. A doctor from the hospital in Lae came up last night and treated the tourists."
Komunt relayed some details of the attack to ABC Australia.
"About three or four in the darkness, they were attacked by this group. And obviously bush knives, there was a pop gun and a rifle, they couldn't tell," he stated. "They just took their stuff and chopped up these porters and it was all happening so fast and they were confused as well."
Papua New Guinea is no stranger of a nation to violence. The government recently widened the index of crimes punishable by death to include beheadings, burnings and gang rapes, the Associated Press reported.
But the attacks on Tuesday were still shocking and largely unusual for the isolated area that is a popular spot for travelers to go hiking.
"We are at a loss as to how this has happened," police spokesperson Dominic Kakas said. "The Black Cat Track has been going on for many, many years now and there's been not one incident that we know of...It really caught us all by surprise here."
