In this photo provided by Staycey Yalo, 34-year-old Esther Was bleeds from a head wound suffered during a student protest Wednesday, June 8, 2016, in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Police fired gunshots to quell the protest demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Peter O鈥橬eill, the government said. AP
SYDNEY 鈥� The University of Papua New Guinea has obtained a court order banning student protesters from further demonstrations following a violent scuffle with police, as officials on Thursday tried to piece together what happened during a clash that left scores of students wounded.
The injunction from the National Court restricts the students involved in Wednesday鈥檚 confrontation from boycotting classes and barricading or locking classrooms in protest.
The court order was issued after police fired gunshots to quell a student protest in the South Pacific nation鈥檚 capital, Port Moresby. The students have been demanding for weeks that Prime Minister Peter O鈥橬eill resign because of alleged corruption and mismanagement.
Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the situation in Port Moresby remained volatile on Thursday, and that Australia had offered Papua New Guinea help to stem further unrest.
鈥淲e are calling for calm. Obviously, lawful and peaceful protests should be allowed,鈥� Bishop told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio. 鈥淭he police response should at all times be proportionate.鈥�
READ: Police, students clash in Papua New Guinea; deaths reported
The government denied initial reports students had been killed in the scuffle, but acknowledged several people had been injured.
The exact number of protesters who were hurt was unclear. O鈥橬eill said five people had been injured; the country鈥檚 police commissioner, citing information from local hospitals, said 23 were hurt, five critically; and Amnesty International said 38 people were injured, four critically.
Both sides blamed each other. O鈥橬eill said he was told a small group of students became violent, threw rocks at police and 鈥減rovoked a response that came in the form of tear gas and warning shots.鈥� Protesters said they had done nothing to prompt aggression from police and accused the officers of firing directly at students.
鈥淭he shooting of students peacefully protesting is reminiscent of the worst excesses of repressive regimes in the region,鈥� Rafendi Djamin, Amnesty International鈥檚 director for South East Asia and the Pacific, said in a statement. 鈥淧apua New Guinea鈥檚 authorities must establish a prompt, impartial and independent investigation to determine who is responsible for the unnecessary and excessive use of force.鈥�
O鈥橬eill said an investigation was underway, though it was unclear who would be in charge of the inquiry.
Staycey Yalo, a journalism student at the university, said she and the other protesters encountered a line of police officers blocking them when they tried to march to Parliament. The police demanded they hand over the student president. When the protesters said no, an argument broke out, she said.
鈥淭hey threw tear gas and amidst the smoke, they started shooting directly at the students,鈥� Yalo told The Associated Press by telephone. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 when we all ran.鈥�
Police in vehicles began chasing after the protesters, with officers firing from their cars at fleeing students, Yalo said.