Robbers kill boy, 12

A 12-YEAR-old boy was shot dead while a nine-year-old girl is recovering at the Modilon hospital in Madang after being shot by criminals last Friday, police said.
The two children from Wabag, Enga province, were with their mothers in a 6A bus going to a church gathering at the Laiwaden oval in town when the vehicle was held up by two armed men.
Police station commander Senior Insp Steven Kaipa said the men pretended to be genuine passengers and stoped the bus as it was dropping off passengers at around 6.30pm.
Snr Insp Kaipa said they held up the crew who went out to open the bus door and demanded the money bag.
He said the crew struggled but let go of the money bag containing more than K300 in cash, and they drove back to town when the criminals fired at the bus from behind and  fled the nearby settlement.
Snr Insp Kaipa said the bullet penetrated the back windscreen, hit the girl on her hand and struck the boy in the chest.
The girl’s mother who saw that her child was bleeding heavily, instructed the driver to rush her child to the hospital without even informing a police task force unit on patrol along the area.
However, when they arrived at the hospital the boy was pronounced dead.
Snr Insp Kaipa said police were investigating.
In a separate incident, a medical staff at the Yagaum hospital was assaulted and had all his properties destroyed by villagers.