A Chinese man who was being repatriated from Vietnam along with 15 other migrants seized a gun from a border guard on Friday, triggering a gunfight and standoff in which five Chinese and two Vietnamese guards died, Vietnam's government said.

Vietnamese authorities detained the 16 Chinese - 10 men, four women and two children - after they entered the country illegally in Quang Ninh province, the regional government said in a statement.

As guards checked their papers in a room at the Bac Phong Sinh border crossing, one of the Chinese grabbed an automatic weapon from a guard and began firing, the statement said. A standoff ensued as some of the men then holed up in the office, it said.

Vietnamese and Chinese authorities urged the group to surrender, but it refused. The statement said some of the victims jumped to their death from the office. Several other people were injured. It didn't say whether the Chinese fatalities included women or children.

No other details were available. Independent media reporting is not allowed in the town.

Quang Ninh is opposite China's Guangxi province. Many Chinese traders and tourists enter Vietnam through the province.

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