BEIJING, Nov 1: China clamped martial law on part of a central province after at least ten people were killed, 42 injured and numerous houses set ablaze in clashes between minority Muslims and Han Chinese, officials said on Monday.

Armed police patrolled the town of Langchenggang and surrounding areas in Henan province after the violence first erupted last Wednesday following a traffic accident involving members of the Hui Muslim ethnic group and the majority ethnic Han sparked fighting in several villages.

Seven people were killed in the clashes and 42 injured, the municipal government in the provincial capital, said in a statement, adding that 18 people had been detained.

People fought with sticks after one of those involved in the accident brought family members to the scene, causing the row to escalate over the weekend, the statement said.

"People were so afraid. No one dared to go to work or go outside. Even the transportation has been stopped," said one resident of a Han village involved who declined to give her name.

Officials denied a report in the New York Times that 150 people had been killed.

Houses had been burned and residents said the fighting had escalated when Hui villagers from outside the area were trucked in. The situation was now calm but with a heavy police presence.

Clashes between Hui people, who make up just 10 million of China's 1.3 billion population, and Han are not common but tension, exacerbated by a widening wealth gap, has on occasion erupted in violence.--Agencies