NZer recounts terrifying night of violence in Solomons

Auckland businessman Ray Vuksich has survived coups and hurricanes but the overnight violence in Honiara, Solomon Islands, was like nothing he'd ever seen before.

Riots broke out in Honiara yesterday after the election of new Prime Minister Snyder Rini.

Two New Zealand police officers, and at least 17 Australians, part of the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) police force, were injured in the bloody violence, which centred on Chinatown in the city following accusations Chinese businessmen bribed members of the government as part of a drive to get Mr Rini elected.

Mr Vuksich arrived in Honiara only yesterday but is no stranger to the Pacific hotspot; his engineering business, Vuksich and Borich, is building soccer academies throughout the Pacific for the sport's world governing body, Fifa.

Mr Vuksich has visited Honiara "about 50 times" and had believed it was settling down after years of unrest.

The illusion was shattered when 400-500 drunk locals turned their attention to the Chinese-owned hotel he was staying at, the Pacific Casino, about 3.30am today.

"It was unbelievable. They were trying to get up the stairs with machetes and batons," he told NZPA.

The downstairs rooms were gutted, some burned, others simply trashed, but Mr Vuksich and others staying upstairs were saved by the brave actions of two Australian prison officers and six local security guards.

The crowd -- drunk on liquor looted from the shops they destroyed and armed with machetes, batons and rocks -- tried to get up the narrow staircase to wreak further havoc but were held off.

"It was terrifying. They were waving their machetes around. Women were screaming."

But Mr Vuksich did not believe the ex-pats staying at the hotel were the crowd's target.

"There appears to be a real hate against the Chinese," he said.

"They've totally burned down Chinatown. There's nothing left."

The RAMSI force arrived after 30 minutes and the crowd turned on them, Mr Vuksich said. Several fell to the ground injured, including several Australasians.

Of the two New Zealand policemen injured, one needed stitches over his right eye and was under supervision in hospital for concussion while the other suffered minor cuts and had glass fragments flushed out of his eye. He had been discharged from hospital.

The wife of one of the Australian prison officers was also injured by a rock.

"I've been through two coups, through hurricanes, but never anything like this," Mr Vuksich said.

He and Fifa's Oceania development officer, Glenn Turner, tried to leave Honiara on a police bus today but it was turned back due to the danger.

They hoped to get a flight out this afternoon -- a day earlier than planned -- but that was looking increasingly unlikely.

"We don't know where we're going, what we're doing. We tried to get out (on a flight) to Vanuatu ... but they wouldn't let us on because they had no insurance to take anyone," Mr Vuksich said.

"So we're just stuck here waiting.

"The talk is we may end up having to wait for commercial flights tomorrow but we don't even know whether a commercial flight will land in here."

Mr Vuksich was unsure what he, Mr Turner and other ex-pats would do for food and drink if they had to stay as the hotel had closed its restaurants and it was not safe to leave.

"I don't know what we're going to do."

- NZPA