Tour leader Christina King. In the background is the jungle area where the horror unfolded. (Digitally altered image) Source: Supplied
ONE Australian trekker was speared in a leg and another's arm was slashed in the PNG attack that claimed the lives of two porters.
The trekking group, including eight Australians and a New Zealander, were attacked by bandits on the Black Cat Track in Morobe province in the country's remote and mountainous north on Tuesday.
Two of their porters were slaughtered with machetes and knives.
It is believed one of them was killed in his tent at the camp - indicating the attack was sudden.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has recommended trekkers avoid the Black Cat track. Read the advice on New Guinea here.
PNG police spokesman Dominic Kakas said six men armed with guns, a spear and bush knives struck between 1pm and 2pm.
One gun was homemade while the other was a .303 factory-made rifle.
Mr Kaka said there were no reports anyone was shot.
Bandits have attacked a group of Australian and New Zealand trekkers in PNG, killing two local porters.
"Three of the porters suffered lacerations to their arms and eyes, one was wounded on both legs," he said.
One of the Australians had his left arm slashed, he said.
THE WORLD'S MOST DANGEROUS PLACES
"They all had their passports stolen. One man was speared in the left leg. Another has a head laceration, cuts on left elbow and bruises and cut on his back."
Some walked for hours to seek help and all the injured were later treated at a clinic in Wau, where they spent the night.
Rescue operator Morobe Mining Joint Venture spokesman Stanley Komunt told AAP the 10 surviving porters have been flown to Lae hospital for treatment.
The jungle terrain in which the attack took place.
"We were told one porter had been killed, then found it was two," he said.
"They are all at Lae receiving medical treatment."
Trek leader Christie King, the only woman in the group, led some of the Australians through the bush to find assistance after the attack.
Wau is a three- to four-hour walk from where they were camped, at the Donkey Trail along the Black Cat Trek.
"Some of them did leave to get help, they were led out by the team leader," Mr Kakas said.
He said PNG's Police Commissioner Tom Kulunga condemned the attack.
"All police resources are being utilised," he said.
The old prospecting track is extremely remote.
Local villagers were tracking the attackers now, he said, and about 20 police officers and the Airborne Unit had been sent to the area.
The injured tourists were to drive to Buolo village and on to Port Moresby.
"They have cuts and abrasions and are in shock," PNG Trekking boss Mark Hitchcock told News Corp.
"They are taking stock but want to stay together," he said.
Mr Hitchcock said that while he didn't want to speculate on the cause of the attack he confirmed "all the trekkers had everything stolen".
"They had arrived into the village about one o'clock in the afternoon and had set their tents up," Mr Hitchcock said.
Armed bandits attacked an Australian trekking group in the PNG highlands, killing two guides.
"The attack occurred somewhere between three and four o'clock."
"The first village they went back to is quite some distance as well…they were met there at 8 o'clock at night.
"We mobilised assistance from a nearby mining joint venture and they sent medics as well as local porters."
Helicopters have been sent to airlifted the injured porters from the village.
"They all have knife wounds,'' said Morobe Mining Joint Venture spokesman Stanley Komunt, referring to the porters.
"We want to get them out quickly," Mr Hitchock said.
"We are deeply shocked by what happened."
Christina King in a family picture.
Mr Hitchcock said police had sent a helicopter carrying four specialist police officers to the scene of the attack and the trekking group were expected to arrive in Port Moresby this afternoon.
"They're in transit now from Lae to the Bulolo airport. They should be getting in to the hospital between two and three this afternoon.
"They'll be in Port Moresby overnight.
"It's a shock for tourism in New Guinea...the trek is nowhere near the other treks people do in New Guinea.
"The incident is an isolated incident."
Daniel King, husband of trek leader Christie King, said: "Everything's okay, in terms of the group.
"A few of them have cuts and bruises and stitches. We have a plan now to get them out."
The Australian High Commission will meet with the group when they return to Port Moresby.
Elmore Lumpay was the medical officer on duty at the Lae International Hospital when the call came through about the attack.
"We organised a team to go up right away," Mr Lumpay said.
"They told us it was a bad attack.
"There is a surgeon up there as well as a nurse.
"The surgeon called us and said they would be here sometime today with the tourists...they only have minor injuries."
Mr Lumpay said that he had heard the PNG nationals were all still at the site as they were "too injured to be moved".
POSSIBLE MOTIVE
Dr John Garap, who has a medical clinic in Morobe Province, said he suspected local jealousy was behind the attack.
"I suspect (the violence) was probably between the tribes themselves. They were probably arguing over whether they should have taken turns being carriers for the trekkers," he said.
"The road that they were walking on is an old wartime track. It's very mountainous and goes through several villages and I think they (the locals) were arguing that they should have taken turns in assisting the trekkers across the mountain as porters."
The 60-year-old GP, who was educated in Queensland, said the trekking company contacted him after the incident.
"There was an incident last night and a helicopter was going out there to pick them up," he said.
"One of the relatives of the trekking team wanted me to recommend an emergency facility for them.
"I have not treated them but I referred them to the emergency department of the Angau General Hospital in Lae.
"I think they basically just had first aid and then were transferred to Port Moresby on their way to Australia."
Meanwhile Kokoda Track trekking company operator and NSW Liberal MLC Charlie Lynn said he believed a serious attack was "an inevitability".
"I believe that what has happened on the Black Cat Track is a direct result of the failure of the Australian Government to appreciate that more Australians will want to follow the footsteps of our veterans in PNG," Mr Lynn said. "They have a duty of care to ensure they can do it safely and that the wartime integrity of the places they will visit is protected."
"This is something that was inevitably going to happen.
"They've refused to listen to people who've had experience in PNG."
It is unknown how many bandits were involved.
BLACK CAT TRACK
The Black Cat track is a rough overland track in Morobe Province. It runs from the village of Salamaua on the coast of the Huon Gulf, south into the mountains to the township of Wau, about 220km north of Port Moresby.
The track started out in the 1920s and 30s as a trail for prospectors seeking to get rich on the gold in Wau.
They traveled from the port Salamaua on a treacherous three to four-day hike through leech-infested territory, a trail that has been described by trekking agencies which run walks in the area as "suitable only for masochists and Israeli Paratroopers".
It is an area rarely frequented by tourists.
Mr Hitchock said there had never been any trouble in the past on the trek.
"This has shocked us all," he said.
It was the scene of bitter fighting between Australian and US troops and Japanese forces in 1943. It is regarded as one of the most arduous walks in PNG.
Earlier this year, then home affairs minister Jason Clare and coalition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison walked the track, accompanied by a pair of wounded soldiers.
Violence against foreigners is not unknown in PNG. In April, an Australian man was killed and a woman gang raped by a mob in the Western Highlands.
Robert "Bob" Purdy, 62, from Melbourne, died instantly after being shot at point blank range when a group of up to 10 men confronted him at a house on the outskirts of Mt Hagen.
The men then raped a female guest at the house.
Additional reporting Simon Black and Kristin Shorten
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