Hanoi: More than 20 people were killed in Vietnam and a huge foreign steel project set ablaze as anti-China riots spread to the centre of the country a day after arson and looting in the south, a doctor and company officials said on Thursday.
A doctor at a hospital in central Ha Tinh province said five Vietnamese workers and 16 other people described as Chinese were killed on Wednesday night in rioting, one of the worst breakdowns in Sino-Vietnamese relations since the neighbours fought a brief border war in 1979.
“There were about a hundred people sent to the hospital last night. Many were Chinese. More are being sent to the hospital this morning,” the doctor at Ha Tinh General Hospital told over phone.
Local media has, however, said only person was killed, while China's state news agency Xinhua reported that at least two Chinese nationals had died and more than 100 hospitalised.
Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung called on police and state and local authorities to restore order and ensure the safety of people and property in the affected areas. “Appropriate measures should be taken immediately to help businesses stabilise quickly and return to normal production activities,” he said.
The planning and investment ministry blamed the clashes on “extremists”.
