Hamrun Mayor Christian Sammut has said that more police presence is needed in the roads and squares of the locality of Hamrun to ensure the safety of its residents, as an incident broke out on Thursday afternoon.

Contacted by The Malta Independent after a brawl involving some 20 men broke out close to the police station and left two people in hospital yesterday, Sammut said that he is very worried about the safety of the locality.

The fight happened in St. Joseph High Road close to Fra Diegu Square, with police being called to the scene at 12:30pm.

It initially began as an argument between two Syrian men and devolved into a fight involving over 20 people, with police struggling to control the fight and having to call for backup from the Rapid Intervention Unit.

Two people were hospitalised for their injuries. One of them is a 23-year-old Syrian, with the police saying that he suffered from light injuries, and the other is a 37-year-old Syrian, whose health condition remains pending.

A video first published to social media shows part of the brawl, with shoppers fleeing from the scene as the brawl erupted around them.  One man was seen holding a bin in the air, while another used an advertising placard as a makeshift shield as police struggled to separate people.

Asked about more general concerns over the safety in Hamrun, Sammut said that he is worried as this is not the first time a fight of this nature has happened between groups of Syrians.

"It starts with an argument and evolves into a large group fighting each other, causing a danger to themselves and their surroundings," Sammut said.

"We have done a lot of work in the locality, and it is not right that our work devolves into nothing because of such incidents where foreign people do not show any respect to us," he said.

Sammut said that there needs to be more police presence in the locality's roads and squares, including at shops which remain open till late, and where most of the he mentioned groups tend to attend.

"I expect that the police take the necessary steps on all those involved," Sammut said.

The brawl is not the first such violent incident in Hamrun.

Just last month, a Somali national was charged with raping an elderly man and a woman in the early hours of the morning in the locality.

A Somali man was grievously injured when he was attached by two people in a Hamrun bar in the early hours of the morning back in May, while three Syrians were also hospitalised back in April after a fight between a group broke out in Mile End Street in the early hours of the morning.