GUANGZHOU - A PROBE is being launched into a deadly brawl at a toy factory between Han Chinese and Uighur workers from Xinjiang, said media reports.

Two Uighur workers were killed and 118 others, said to be mostly Uighurs, were hurt in the clash at the Xuri Toy Factory in Shaoguan in Guangdong.

The incident has caught the eye of the central government, which views any conflict between China's 56 ethnic groups as a major source of social instability, said Hong Kong media reports.

The authorities have reportedly told major Internet chatrooms to remove postings about the clash as it could impede the government's policy of encouraging coastal provinces to hire minorities from China's less-developed western region.

In an official confirmation that the incident took place, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported yesterday that more than 400 policemen had been called in to break it up. The plant is owned by Hong Kong tycoon Francis Choi.

Of the 118 people who had been injured, 60 were still being treated in hospital yesterday, Xinhua said, citing local authorities.

Xinhua did not say what had triggered the brawl or mention the involvement of Han Chinese and Uighur workers. The report, however, noted that the plant had recruited 800 migrant workers in May and this month from Xinjiang.

Xinjiang is home to about eight million Uighurs, a largely Muslim group.

In an earlier report, a Shaoguan City government spokesman said the brawl came about because of tensions between workers from the Uighur minority and Han Chinese, who make up most of the country's population.

The unnamed spokesman, who was quoted by the semi-official China News Service on Saturday, said the fight started after a Han Chinese girl entered a dormitory where Uighur workers were staying. Uighur workers tried to harass her, and she screamed.

'Some people carrying metal pipes entered a dormitory to attack Uighur workers. But the Uighurs fought back with knives, leading to a fierce brawl involving hundreds,' the Hong Kong-based Ming Pao newspaper said on Saturday.

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