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500 Brawl in Mass Fight in Dagestan

A disagreement between two unemployed men in Dagestan spiraled into a mass brawl involving up to 500 of the mens' friends and relatives, sending the men to the hospital and injuring two local police officers.

The incident happened overnight in the village of Novokuli Novolaksky, the Interior Ministry said, Interfax reported.

A local law enforcement officer told the news agency that the village was unequally divided into two ethnic groups, and the fight occurred between them.

"But you can't call the conflict an ethnic one," he said. "It was a domestic fight. The village was celebrating a holiday, and then there was a conflict between young people."

The fight was stopped by the head of the local police division. No further clarification to the cause of the fight was made.

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