Some 60 Hunan natives mobbed a Guangzhou hospital after a woman from their hometown was killed in a traffic accident in the city, leading to a 10-hour stand-off with police on Tuesday.

Wu, from Liuyang, Hunan Province, was hit by a car at around 8 am and later died at Xinhai Hospital, reports Guangzhou Daily.

Wu's brother-in-law, Tian Weihong, was negotiating compensation terms with the driver, Wang Guixiong, around noon when nearly 60 migrant workers from Wu's hometown turned up at the hospital to make sure their friends would not be taken advantage of by local citizens.

When security guards tried to intervene, scuffles occurred and police were called to the scene.

But the arrival of more than 20 policemen only served to agitate the migrant workers.

"They obviously came to take the driver away from us," some of them said.

Negotiations broke down after Wang had 20,000 yuan (US$2,410) delivered to Tian at around 4 pm, because the driver would not agree to additional compensation.

"The amount should be decided by a court," he said.

The stand-off continued past midnight as more policemen arrived and blocked hospital entrances with at least 30 cars, said eyewitnesses.

The hospital's emergency rescue department had not been able to function since noon.

During a normal afternoon and evening, the department treats an average of 12 emergency patients, said a doctor.

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