People flee PNG streets amid violence

People in Port Moresby have reported police firing on the public and using tear gas to disperse crowds after a student protest at the University of PNG's Waigani campus turned violent.

Four people have reportedly been killed and accounts of up to 30 wounded.

Hubert Namani, a lawyer and business leader, said public transport had been halted and people were fleeing the streets.

"People are looting and rioting and sort of revolting, so the police are now caught trying to manage all of that," Namani told Reuters by phone from Port Moresby.

"All of the businesses are closing down, I've closed off my offices and sent everybody off for half the day."

Noel Anjo, one of the leaders of the student protest, said the violence began when students started a planned march from the campus towards the parliament building in the capital.

Police set up a road block but the students refused to turn back, Anjo said.

"We were determined to go to parliament," he said. "Police did not like that idea and started assaulting the students, punching them, hitting them with the gun butts, before firing shots at them."

"The students were running for cover in all directions, but I saw some people badly wounded."

There was no immediate comment from police in Port Moresby.

Richard Sanaka, a doctor in the emergency department at Port Moresby General Hospital, said there were 20 wounded students at the hospital, five in critical condition.

A major aid agency, which declined to be identified, said a clinic at the University of PNG's Waigani campus had reported at least 15 students were wounded, with four killed.

Video on social media appeared to show students fleeing amid clouds of tear gas and the sound of gunfire. Pictures showed several men with what appeared to be serious stomach, chest and leg wounds.

Thousands of students at the University of PNG in Port Moresby have been protesting and boycotting classes for weeks amid growing political unrest and calls for Prime Minister Peter O'Neill to resign over corruption allegations.