SAA event in Papua New Guinea on Tue 22nd October 2024

At least seven people were killed and more than a dozen remain missing after gunmen ambushed a public bus and shot passengers in Papua New Guinea’s Enga province.

The shooting took place in Enga’s Lagaip district on Tuesday afternoon. More than 20 passengers were on the bus when men armed with high-powered weapons “set up an ambush and fired shots indiscriminately” into the vehicle, highland western end assistant police commissioner Joseph Tondop said in a statement on Wednesday.

Seven male passengers, including the driver, were killed. Local police said the bus driver turned the vehicle around after the attack and drove Wabag hospital, about 50 minutes away, but later died from the bullet injury.

One person remains in a critical condition in Wabag hospital and at least 17 are unaccounted for. Tondop said it was unclear whether the missing passengers are still alive or wounded, and may be hiding in the bushes or sheltering with neighbouring clans.

Early on Wednesday, police launched a search operation for the missing passengers, starting at the scene of the ambush, Tondop said.