Around a dozen Nigerian nationals were involved in a violent fight inside a south Delhi hospital early on Saturday, as the staff members hid in toilets.

The fight broke out around 4.30 am, when three wounded Nigerians came to the hospital in Saket for treatment. Around 12 others with them were waiting outside, South Delhi’s Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Chinmoy Biswal said.

The three wounded men asked the front desk what the charges for treatment were, and decided to leave soon after, saying it was too expensive.

The police said the violence began when another man arrived in an autorickshaw, just as the first group was leaving. “They saw him and began attacking him. He ran inside the hospital and the group ran after him and beat him inside,” Biswal said. Hospital furniture and laboratory equipment were destroyed.

The men were armed with swords and cleavers, NDTV reported.

The men fled before the police arrived. A First Information Report has been registered.