Protesters burn buildings in Papua province

JAKARTA, Sept 23 (AP): Hundreds of protesters in Indonesia's restive Papua province set fire to homes and other buildings on Monday in a protest sparked by rumors that a high school teacher had insulted students, police said.

The angry mob torched local government buildings, shops and homes and set fire to cars and motorbikes on several roads leading to the district chief's office in Wamena city, said Papua police chief Rudolf Alberth Rodja.

Television footage showed orange flames and black smoke billowing from burning buildings.

Rodja said the protest was triggered by allegations that a high school teacher in Wamena who is not from Papua had called an indigenous Papuan student "monkey" last week.