FISTS and furniture were flying when a brawl broke out between a group of Indians and Pakistanis in Tsim Sha Tsui yesterday.

A police officer was forced to draw his revolver to break up the Chungking Mansions fracas.

The officer drew his weapon when one of the men apparently tried to slash officers with a broken bottle, a police spokesman said. No shots were fired.

The patrolling officers saw the six men fighting on the ground floor of the notorious Chungking Mansions on Nathan Road just after 5 am.

Chungking Mansions is home to many merchants from the Indian sub-continent.

Investigators said it appeared that five of the men were attacking another with chairs and broken bottles.

Three of the men were slightly injured and were taken to hospital, but were later released.

The men, aged between 21 and 38, are being held by police who are waiting for interpreters to be called in to take the statements.

The men told police they could not speak English and could understand only limited Cantonese.

An investigator said little was known about why the fight started.

"Of course there are problems between the Indians and Pakistanis in Chungking, everyone knows that," an investigator said.

"At one point, a patrolling officer had to draw a revolver because broken glass was being waved around and he wanted to stop the fight. He did not fire a shot and acted in accordance with police regulations."

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