BY HAIVETA KIVIA

A QUARREL and scuffle over a can of Pepsi in the Markham Valley in Morobe Province, last Tuesday, has left 10 men dead and countless injured, says Morobe provincial police Commander Augustine Wampe.

Mr Wampe said seven men were confirmed dead at the scene of the fight, two were succumbed to their injuries at Ramu Health Centre and one was found dead in a cocoa plot near Zumim village.

Morobe Governor Kelly Naru has described the deaths as unprecedented in the valley and the province when he attended a peace meeting organised by the Markham District Administration and Morobe Police between the fighting tribes, last Friday.

Rumours had it that the victims died from high-powered gunshot wounds and were cut to pieces by their enemies.

Mr Wampe however, could not confirm the usage of high-powered gun or guns but confirmed the deaths are all from the Amari (Umi) tribe and from the villages of Ragiapum (four), Atzunas (two), Ragizianpum (two) and Waritzian (two).

Mr Wampe said the fight started last Tuesday when five drunken students from the Markham Valley Secondary School assaulted a vendor at the Mutzing Station market for a can of Pepsi.

He said the students bought a can and wanted another for free but the vendor refused and they assaulted the vendor.

The vendor with the support of his fellow tribesmen retaliated and fought with the students.

The fight spilled into the Markham Valley Secondary School where other innocent students were assaulted by the angry nearby villagers.

Mr Wampe said the students then started ringing their parents that they were being assaulted for no good reason.

He said the Amari tribe villages across the Umi River right up to Waterais amassed on Thursday and walked on the Highlands highway towards Zumim village and nearby Atzera villages to avenge the assault of their children.

Mr Wampe said the Amaris were ambushed at Zumim Primary School, panicked and fled in all direction, some tried to retrieve their fallen tribesmen but the overwhelming surprise attack left them with little time to react as the Atzeras chased them.

He said some men from the Amari tribe are still missing and Mr Wampe is appealing to the Atzera people to return them safely to the authorities or if they are dead to tell police of the locations so they can retrieve the bodies.