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Mass punch-up in refugee accommodation at former Berlin airport

Berlin - A mass brawl has broken out at temporary refugee accommodation in Berlin's former Tempelhof airport, with residents attacking each other with knives and sticks, police said on Sunday.

A spokesperson said that a large contingent of police officers was at the scene to bring the situation under control.

There are 2 300 refugees living in cramped conditions in three of the former airport's halls.

Punch-ups on Saturday evening at refugee accommodation elsewhere in the German capital and in the nearby state of Saxony-Anhalt in the east of the country resulted in 12 people being injured, officials said on Sunday.

At an emergency hostel in the Berlin district of Spandau, residents attacked each other with their fists and fire extinguishers. "We took seven people to hospital," a fire service spokesperson said.

An argument broke out among residents on Saturday evening and escalated. The violence and "clouds from the extinguishers" caused panic, the spokesperson said.

Around half of the 1 000 or so residents had to wait outside the building in the night-time cold until the situation calmed down.

The last residents could finally return to their beds in the early hours. There were indications of bodily injuries.

In another brawl at a refugee hostel in the village of Klietz near Stendal in Saxony-Anhalt five people were injured. A row broke out on Saturday evening among several residents and escalated into a fistfight.

Police have launched an assault investigation.

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