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PORT MORESBY , Papua New Guinea, June 8 (UPI) -- Police opened fire on a demonstration of students in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, injuring 23 people, though the prime minister said there were no deaths. There were reports police fired directly into a crowd and killed four people, the British newspaper The Guardian said, although the government quickly denied it.
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About 2,000 students gathered to make their way to Parliament in Port Moresby to demand that Prime Minister Peter O'Neill, involved in a long-running corruption scandal, resign. He has been accused of authorizing millions in corrupt payments to a law firm, which he denies.
Classes at the Port Moresby college have been boycotted for the past five weeks as students demanded O'Neill's resignation.
"Paramilitary police and squad police told the students they needed to turn back because they did not have permission to hold the protest," said Gary Juffa, a member of Parliament and critic of O'Neill. "Then they started firing."
Police spokesman Dominic Kakas said 23 students were hospitalized, five in critical condition.
A student, Jeremiah Yukap, said the students sought to take their grievances to Parliament in support of a no confidence vote against the prime minister. He added police stopped several students' buses, then opened fire after the students began a march to the capital, Australia's Fairfax Media reported.
A statement by O'Neill blamed non-student agitators for the violent confrontation, noting no students were killed.
"This protest and the factors that led to the incident today have been driven by people who are not students," he said in the statement. "This is now a law and order issue ...I have heard your petition and given my response; that is the end of the matter.
