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Papua New Guinea's government has called in the defence forces in an attempt to restore order amid widespread violence and looting in the capital of Port Moresby.
Paramedics said they'd been called to treat victims of shootings and an explosion amid a "significant emergency situation", and the Australian High Commission stepped up security measures.
The unrest broke out yesterday after public servants took to the streets to protest a significant pay shortfall initially thought to be a tax increase, which the government blamed on a payroll bungle.
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The government later promised the money would be made up to workers in their second pay packet of the year.
But by that stage rioting had already broken out and videos shared on social media showed widespread looting and burning buildings across the capital.
Prime Minister James Marape said the National Executive Council had approved an order for defence forces to be called in to "restore order in the city".
"I want to appeal to citizens to protect our city," he said, in a statement reported by local media.
"The police and public servant grievances are being addressed and by next pay the lost salary would be restored."
Marape blamed the pay issue on an "oversight by government payroll people", which failed to update the non-taxpaying threshold for public servants.
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The prime minister encouraged police, who some local media reported had gone on strike over the pay issue, to report for duty and said the defence forces would remain called out until order was restored.
He apologised to the damaged businesses and promised to look at tax relief to recover "some losses".
"To the public. This is your country," he said.
"The business houses pay taxes and this taxes pay your children school fees as well as the salary we all earn. Let's us protect them [sic]."
No detailed reports of injuries or damages were available but St John Ambulance Papua New Guinea said it had received "a large number of emergency calls in the National Capital District relating to shooting incidents and persons injured in an explosion".
"The ambulance service is responding to life-threatening emergencies but there may be delays due to evolving security situation," spokesperson Lulu Mark said, in a statement.
The Australian government's Smartraveller website urged Australians to exercise a high degree of caution in PNG.
"There's widespread civil disorder, violence and looting in Port Moresby," it said, in an update posted last night.
"The Australian High Commission has implemented heightened security measures."
Brave Entrepreneurs of Papua New Guinea, a company selling vehicles and security solutions, said it was unclear when shop owners could rebuild, leading to job losses.
"All the major groceries shops that supply food to the city population in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea were looted and some burnt to the ground today," the business said, on Facebook.
"We might suffer the consequences in the coming days and weeks with shortages of food supply."
The US Embassy to Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu issued a security alert about this afternoon warning shots had been fired as police tried to disperse looters near the building.
The unrest appears to have been sparked by fears of a tax increase leading to significant effective pay cuts, a belief Internal Revenue Commission commissioner general Sam Koim sort to dispel.
He said the Alesco payroll system hadn't been reconfigured to reflect the decision to make permanent an increase to the tax-free threshold from 12,500 kina (about $4230) to 20,000 kina (about $7890), which he said was initially meant to run out on December 31.
"There is no tax increase," he said.
"There was a technical glitch on the Alesco payroll configurations and hence the deductions. We have discovered it."
Puma service stations, Kina Bank and the IRC all announced they would be closed today due to safety concerns.
