Rival migrants gangs are engaging in open warfare on the streets of Vienna, which has led to seven people being hospitalized and one left in serious condition.

On Saturday evening violence broke out in the Austrian capital between two rival migrant gangs who fought each other with knives and iron bars. Up to 50 young men were involved in the fighting which saw a gang of Afghan migrants attack a group of Chechens. Police spokesman Paul Eidenberger told Austrian paper Kronen Zeitung, “there were two attempted murders and five serious injuries,” in the aftermath of the violent brawl.

The Chechens were leaving a youth centre in Handelskai when they were attacked. A social worker who witnessed the entire brawl said that the Afghanis who attacked the Chechens outnumbered them five to one. The men were beaten viciously.

Some of the victims were stabbed in the abdomen leading to two victims being taken to hospital with life threatening injuries.

The majority of the attackers managed to flee the scene before police arrived. Around 30 officers and five ambulances arrived to treat the wounded. The entire fight was said to have only lasted around two minutes. The Afghanis were said to be between 15 to 25 years old and aside from knives many were also armed with wooden bat and iron bars.

Six of the Afghans were arrested by police and three witnesses to the event have been interviewed by police. The police are also working with the Vienna transportation company Wiener Linien in order to look at security footage from the Handelskai station which is in close proximity to where the assaults took place. Police were also able to locate many of the weapons used in the attack after a specially trained police dog was brought in. While the dog was able to find many of the iron bars and wooden weapons, none of the knives used to stab the victims were found.

The police investigation has revealed a possible motive for the attack. According to the authorities the groups were in communication via Facebook and the whole situation is thought to have been an escalation of arguments and insults the two groups had engaged in online. Witnesses on the scene also said that drugs were involved.

Migrant on migrant violence has become commonplace in Germany and Austria where migrants like a gang of Moroccans in Germany are able to game the system of benefits for under-age asylum seekers who often get preferential treatment due to being recognized as more vulnerable than their adult counterparts. The young men finance lavish lifestyles and commit crimes with impunity including dealing drugs.