Saturday 14 May 2016

Moscow cemetery brawl: Two dead and 50 arrested


Two people have been killed in a mass brawl at a Moscow cemetery, apparently in a dispute about jobs, police say.
Russian news reports said up to 200 people took part in the brawl at the south-west Khovanskoye cemetery, the largest in the city.
Police said the victims died after being run over by others trying to escape the scene in their cars.
The Russian interior ministry said more than 50 people were arrested, Russia's Interfax news agency reported.
The ministry also confirmed that the fight involved firearms, although there were no reports of shooting injuries.
Police spokeswoman Sofya Khotina said police believe the brawl was caused by a territorial dispute between two different groups of cemetery workers.
She said both of those killed were involved in the brawl, correcting earlier reports that one had been a police officer.
Russia media reports said the ethnic groups from ex-Soviet Central Asia and the Caucasus were fighting over the cemetery's lucrative services business.
Reports said police officers fired into the air in an attempt to quell the violence.
The Khovanskoye cemetery is a massive 200-hectare (500-acre) site on Moscow's southwestern outskirts.


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