Thirty injured in clashes in Vienna Sikh temple
Posted: 24 May 2009 2055 hrs

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VIENNA: About 30 people were wounded, nine of them seriously, as rival factions in the Sikh community clashed inside a Sikh temple in the Austrian capital Vienna, police and emergency services said on Sunday.

Fighting broke out at around 1:30 pm (1130 GMT), when a group of Sikhs opposed to the sermon given by Shri Guru Ravidas Sabha, a guru visiting from India, produced knives and a gun inside the temple.

"Six people did not agree (with the sermon)," police spokesman Michael Takacs told Austrian public radio.

"One drew a firearm, the others knives. The six people were overpowered by members of the community and seriously injured," he added.

One of those wounded was fighting for his life, said Takacs.

Police officers had recovered at least three spent cartridges inside the temple, where 200 people had gathered for the service.

The wounded were evacuated in three helicopters to several hospitals, said the emergency services.

The violence had its roots in a long-longing religious dispute inside the community, one of those at the scene, Jasuf Kalder, told Austria's APA agency.

Followers of the temple in Vienna's 15th district had clashed with several other Sikh temples in the city since it opened in December 2005, and these other communities were opposed to the arrival of the guru at this temple, said Kalder.

Local police had been warned about the tension surrounding the guru's visit, Kalder added.

"All the people implicated (in the incident) have been arrested," a police spokesman in Vienna told AFP, without specifying the number of arrests.

Public radio in Vienna reported five arrests.

According to the latest figures, the Sikh religious community, has tens of thousands of followers in Austria and some 25 million worldwide, most of them in northern India.

Their religious tradition requires men to wear a turban. - AFP/ms/de