HONG KONG — At first, the collision of the two front-end loaders on the dusty street in northern China seems like it could be a work-site accident. Then, as one witness murmurs in disbelief, the violent intent becomes clear. With their buckets held high like the horns of battling beetles, the two machines repeatedly slam into each other. Another joins the fray, toppling one of the first combatants. Yet another arrives, trying to right its fallen comrade. And then even more arrive to do battle.

Some participants in the Sunday street battle in Xingtang County, in the Hebei provincial capital of Shijiazhuang, carried knives and pellet guns, according to one report. But the most surprising weapon was the construction equipment. At least two people filmed the clash with cellphones, and the video was widely viewed on Chinese websites on Monday.

Some commenters on Weibo, the Chinese microblogging platform, called it a clash of homegrown Transformers. The actual explanation is far more prosaic. A dispute between two concrete plants escalated to the front-end loader fight, according a statement from the Xingtang County propaganda office.

Workers in front-end loaders and sport utility vehicles from one company, the Jianwen Concrete Plant, had shown up at the Xinghua Concrete Plant intending to take over the work on a new development project, one Xinghua worker told Beijing Youth Daily.