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ive people, including military personnel, were injured when a riot broke out at the PT Nexus Engineering Indonesia dockyard in Batam, Riau Islands, on Tuesday.

The riot was reportedly triggered by physical abuse allegedly committed by a member of the National Military (TNI) against workers.

A number of vehicles and office rooms were burned in the incident.

According to an eyewitness who also works at the dockyard, Pakar, 35, the clash between workers and security guards, assisted by Army soldiers, followed a routine entry check at 7 a.m.

“Security chief Mugi saw that Polman Siregar and Lubis were not wearing safety glasses or name tags during the inspection at the entrance. Both were called to the office and beaten by Mugi and a soldier until they bled,” Pakar said.

Both of them then reported the matter to a group of workers who were still queuing for their check ups. They became angry and hit the guard and soldier, said Pakar.

First Private Zulkifli, Mugi and another security guard were seriously injured after being hit by the workers with their safety helmets.

The three men then fled for safety to a settlement near the dockyard.

Around 2,000 workers then rushed out of the dockyard and vented their anger against three security posts located at various corners of the dockyard. They set fire to a security office, two motorcycles owned by the soldiers and smashed a computer.

A worker, Sukirman, said the security guards and soldiers often beat workers.

The workers’ rage on Tuesday, he added, was the peak of their frustration with the company’s security system.

“The company is plagued by many problems and incidents can easily happen. We don’t tolerate the rough attitude of security guards. They are arrogant due to the presence of soldiers near them,” said Sukirman.

The Riau Islands Police have deployed at least 500 personnel and a water cannon at the dockyard. Two hours after the riot, the company management sent the 2,000 workers home and dockyard operations stopped temporarily.