Thugs attack family at park

By KEVIN TEME

A FATHER and his son were treated in hospital for injuries they received when they were attacked by armed thugs at a public park, The National reports.
Simon Walg and son John Bereu were with family members at the Varirata National Park, Sogeri, outside Port Moresby, on Saturday for a Christmas family outing when they were attacked.
Walg, Bereu and his wife Jenny, their sons and family friend Regina Augustine were taken by surprise.
Walg and Bereu were attacked with bush knives while Jenny was threatened with a factory-made gun.
Sons Joesen and Kapul watched helplessly as their dad bled from the knife wound.
They were rushed to the Port Moresby Ge­neral Hospital but because there were no doctors on duty, they had to be taken to Paradise Hospital.
Jenny managed to scare the thugs off at the park after she ignored the gun pointed at her, ran to her husband’s taxi and grabbed his bush knife.
“I did not care if they had to shoot me because when I saw my husband and Walg bleeding badly, I managed to get away and did not care if they will shoot me,’’ she said.
“I went straight to my husband’s taxi, grabbed the bush knife and came back running at them. They did not shoot me but instead ran into the nearby forest.”
She believed the thugs only wanted to harm them and not steal anything.
“We had our backs turned at the lookout point of the park to see the city when the first one came hit my husband on the neck before running straight at Walg and hit him too,” she said.
She said Walg tried to ward off the knife and prevented more injuries to himself.
She blamed the incident on the National Environment and Conservation Department  which for some reason had reduced security officers at the park.
She said the park should be well guarded so that families could use it.
“At the moment, the park is not safe and the security is not guaranteed,” she said.
“Similar incidents happened before and it will be worse if the NEC does not look into this matter. We could see lives being lost out there.”
No comments could be obtained from the police and the department yesterday.