3 dead, 23 hospitalized after brawl at Moscow cemetery

MOSCOW -- A violent brawl at a Moscow cemetery involving about 200 people has left three people dead and 23 others hospitalized, according to police and health officials.

Russian news reports say brawlers fired guns and used shovels, shovel handles, steel bars and baseball bats against their opponents.

Police say the brawl is believed to have started over who controls providing burial services at the sprawling cemetery in southwest Moscow.

A Moscow police spokeswoman told the Interfax news agency that two of the people who died were hit by a car that was trying to flee the scene. She said the three people in the car, who were armed with pistols, were among more than 50 people detained by police.

The city health department said another person also was killed and four of the 23 hospitalized were in serious condition.