One was killed and six others injured after two groups of locals in Vietnam’s Central Highlands province of Dak Lak engaged in an armed conflict over land disputes on Saturday.

Bui Duc Hanh, chairman of Ea Bung Commune in Dak Lak’s Ea Sup District, confirmed to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Saturday evening that the brawl had broken out at around 2:00 pm the same day in Ea Bung.

According to Hanh, the area of disputed land belongs to a local military division, but has been wrongly occupied and turned into farming land by a group of locals in the commune for ten years.

The same land was claimed by another group of people from neighboring communes, which had resulted in frequent conflicts between the groups, Hanh explained.

On Saturday, upon learning that the group of outsiders had came to the piece of land for cultivation, locals in Ea Bung gathered to reclaim the land, arming themselves with machetes and knives.

The two groups engaged in a violent fight that lasted for roughly one hour between 2:00 pm and 3:00 pm, resulting in the death of one 26-year-old man from Ea Sup, who was found with multiple slashes on his head, shoulder and body.

Injured men from the group fight are treated at the General Hospital of Dak Lak Province, December 16, 2017. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Six others from both groups, some related to each other and to the deceased man, were critically injured and admitted to the General Hospital of Dak Lak Province for treatment.

After receiving notifications from the locals, leaders and authorities of Ea Bung Commune arrived at the scene to restore order.

Many of the remaining men from both sides had been taken in for questioning as of 11:00 pm the same evening.

“No further information is available at the moment, as police are still investigating,” said Major General Tran Ky Roi, police chief of Dak Lak Province.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!