Five drifted men with a boy, who were flown into Port Moresby last Tuesday from Kiribati, are being held back by local authorities because they are termed as persons of interest (POI).
They are expected to be interviewed by police over two other passengers, who were onboard the boat with them but have gone missing.
The mysterious boy is from the Southern Highlands Province. The five men are from the Autonomous Region of Bougainville (ABG).
They all were onboard an ill-fated dinghy which was adrift for more than four weeks. An official report states that they were rescued by a Chinese fishing boat.
Their destination originally was from New Ireland to ABG but they ended up in Kiribati. They ran out of fuel in the middle of their journey.
Our author was informed by reliable sources that the men and the boy were persons of interest due to the missing of the duo. They all were on the same boat but only the six made it.