Several injured after mass brawl at German asylum seekers' hostel

Stuttgart - Several people and one police officer were injured in the southern German town of Ellwangen after an altercation between Syrian and Algerian asylum seekers turned into a mass brawl, police said on Friday.

The altercation is said to have broken out as the asylum seekers were queueing for food, but it remained unclear what prompted it.

Around 80 people took part in the brawl, with 35 of them subsequently fleeing to a neighbouring building and throwing stones at their adversaries.

Police deployed 50 officers to the scene, one of whom was hit by a stone. Five of the asylum seekers were also injured by stones during the brawl.

One asylum seeker had been injured two hours earlier during a stabbing at the same asylum seekers' hostel in Ellwangen. It is unclear whether the two incidents are linked.

Germany is facing an unprecedented influx of migrants, mainly from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Serbia and Kosovo.

About 40% of the 186 000 migrants that registered in the European Union in the first quarter of 2015 are seeking asylum in Germany, according to Eurostat.