JAKARTA - RIGHTS group Amnesty International urged Indonesia on Wednesday to probe a crackdown on protesting villagers that killed two children and destroyed hundreds of houses on Sumatra island.

The two children died and nearly 400 people were left homeless last week after police and other officials fired bullets and tear gas to evict residents of Suluk Bongkal village in Riau province, Amnesty said in a statement.

'Hundreds of people are now living in the forest, their homes destroyed, and two families are grieving the loss of their children,' campaigner Josef Benedict said in the statement.

One two-year-old girl died after falling down a well during the confrontation, while a two-month-old baby died from burns, the statement said.

Two other people were injured by gunshots.

As the villagers fled into the forest, two helicopters then dropped what was thought to be a fire accelerant, burning around 300 homes before bulldozers went in and flattened the area, it said.

The villagers have been engaged in a land dispute with a pulpwood supply company since the forestry ministry awarded the company rights to develop the area in 1996.

Riau police spokesman Amin Rahimsyah confirmed that the incident occurred but refused to respond to Amnesty's specific allegations, saying a probe was under way.

'It's true that the incident happened but we haven't got the final results of our investigation,' he told AFP. -- AFP