School fight in Lae

Standoff ... Lae Secondary School students facing Bugandi students (right) as armed policemen, some in plain clothes, stand in the middle of the two groups of students. – Nationalpic by Gabriel Lahoc

One student is dead and another is fighting for his life in the Morobe capital Lae after a peaceful protest turned into an all out school war yesterday.

And classes at the Lae and Bugandi Secondary schools have been suspended indefinitely, once again this year.

The Provincial Education Board, schools principals, and police decided to suspend classes in order to bring the situation under control, as relatives of the two students seek explanations from relevant authorities.

This is the second death of a secondary high school student in Lae in less than a year as a direct result of school fights.

It is not clear what actually happened that resulted in the death and the injury of the two male students from Bugandi Secondary School.

Police have not been able to verify the incident but sources told NBC News, students from Bugandi Secondary School had held a peaceful march to the Lae Secondary School to denounce anymore fighting between the two institutions due to a situation at the weekend.

However, the matter had gone out of control and a huge fight started.

Police were called in to quell the situation and gunshots were heard amidst the confrontation that had spilled on to the streets at Eriku.

One student was later found dead with a deep hole in his throat allegedly from a bullet.

The other student is fighting for survival at the Angau Memorial Hospital from serious gunshot wounds.