A dispute reportedly erupted between five Thai and ten Vietnamese at a seafood restaurant in Kueishan. The Vietnamese later returned and started a fire with the help of gasoline, reports said.

Two Thai men and one woman died while six men and one woman were taken to the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Linkou with various burn injuries. One of the injured was listed in critical condition with burns over 70 percent of his body. Four of the others were in intensive care with burns over 10 percent to 30 percent of their body, reports said.

The fire broke out around 3:30 a.m. yesterday, police said. After the firefighters extinguished the blaze and rescued the seven injured, they found three bodies at the back of the small restaurant located near an industrial zone.

The manager said she knew one of the Vietnamese guests and allowed them to stay in the karaoke room to eat a cake as she returned home.

One of the injured Thai workers said the two sides were playing cards when a dispute turned into a scuffle. The Vietnamese left because they were in the minority but returned half an hour later to spray gasoline around the room, media reported.

The three Thais who died were probably not familiar with the layout of the restaurant, police said. The firefighters found two bodies near a television set and one close to the exit.

Police said they questioned three Vietnamese who admitted having quarreled with the Thai, though they denied having started the fire.

The Taoyuan County Government's labor department reportedly asked local industrial zones to separate their foreign laborers from different nationalities to prevent clashes. State-run industrial areas reportedly ban their foreign workers from leaving the premises after 11 p.m. and send police to pick them up.