HANOI: Six men were killed on Monday in a gang-related shootout in the Vietnamese city of Halong, the jumping off point for scenic Halong Bay, one of the country’s top tourist destinations, state media reported.

The rare gun battle between two rival gangs took place near a coal port in Halong early on Monday, the newspaper Cong An Nhan Dan (People’s Police) reported on its website.

Investigators’ photos of the scene showed bodies lying by piles of what appeared to be coal and an overturned motorcycle.

Police were investigating the cause of the shootout that killed the men between the ages of 15 and 21, the report said.

Halong is about 125 km east of the capital Hanoi.

Each year, tens of thousands of overseas and Vietnamese tourists take boat tours of Halong Bay, known for its striking karst rock formations that jut out of the water.

Gun possession is illegal in Vietnam.—Reuters