More than a hundred African people surrounded a police station Wednesday in south China's Guangdong Province following an alleged death of an African stall-holder.

Police in Guangzhou, the provincial capital, conducted surprise passport checks at their stalls Wednesday afternoon, protesters told Xinhua.

More than a hundred African people surrounded a police station Wednesday in south China's Guangdong Province following an alleged death of an African stall-holder. [Nanfang Daily]

The checks led to a brawl with people who failed to show their passports, they said.

Some protestors said one African died, but others said two died.

One protestor told Xinhua that he was Nigerian, but others declined to reveal their nationalities.

A police officer denied anyone had died.

The Guangzhou Public Security Bureau said late Wednesday that the police conducted routine checks at around 2:50 p.m. on the second floor of the Tangqi Garment Shopping Mall in Yuexiu District.

More than a hundred African people surrounded a police station Wednesday in south China's Guangdong Province following an alleged death of an African stall-holder. [Nanfang Daily]

One African man allegedly involved in illegal foreign currency exchanges broke windows and cut his back while evading police, a bureau spokesman said.

Police later found another African man was critically injured after falling from the building.

The injured were taken to hospital. Police are further verifying their identities and investigating the protest.

The Africans started to surround the Kuangquan street police station at about 3:40 p.m. and the protest disrupted traffic, a resident said.

Most of the protestors had dispersed by about 8:30 p.m. and traffic had resumed.

As Sino-Africa trade booms, the manufacturing center of Guangzhou is attracting many African people doing mainly wholesale business in garments and daily commodities.

(Xinhua News Agency July 16, 2009)