There are fears for the wellbeing of a number of students who remain missing after yesterday's unrest at the University of Papua New Guinea in Port Moresby. This followed a day of unrest in the PNG capital, when police opened fire on students at the University of PNG ahead of a planned rally at parliament. After police stopped students from leaving their campus and ordered them to disembark, tensions boiled over and some police started shooting. Police said 23 people were reportedly injured from the unrest but said that no one was killed. However, nearly 24 hours on, dozens of students are unaccounted for. A student, Zacharia Yakap, described a scene of chaos with hundreds of students fleeing after police opened fire. "The students went everywhere and since the police were even running into the campus looking for students, the students ran into nearby bushes where the police also followed through and shot them," he said. "So at this moment we're not really sure where whoever is. It's like they've just shot where ever they were. So those that we could find and those that could make their way towards public help made it to the hospital and we're not certain of where the others are." Meanwhile, Papua New Guinea's capital is in partial shutdown mode today following yesterday's unrest. Reports emerging from Port Moresby today indicate that many public transport vehicles are not running this morning, and that businesses are closed. Police say calm was restored after yesterday's unrest. However citizens have expressed outrage at the police response to a peaceful student crowd, and student reps have not ruled out more mass mobilisations in coming days. Police are also on high alert in the cities of Mt Hagen or Lae where students have rallied to express opposition to the police actions in the capital as well, as their continued call for the prime minister, Peter O'Neill, to stand down. RNZI
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