One Chinese expert was killed and another seriously wounded Thursday when they were caught up in a gunfight between police and former rebels in Brazzaville, the Chinese Embassy in the Republic of Congo confirmed on Friday.

According to the embassy, the two experts were shot when they were driving on their way from the urban area of Brazzaville to their residence at about 5 p.m. local time (0400 GMT) Thursday.

They were immediately sent to a nearby hospital where a Chinese medical team is working, but one of them was pronounced dead shortly after arrival. The other was in stable condition, the embassy said.

Chinese Ambassador Wo Ruidi and other Chinese diplomats went to the hospital to visit the victims right after the attack, and made representations to the Congolese government over the incident, the embassy said.

The Congolese government confirmed Friday that two policemen and three military policemen were also killed in the fighting, reports from Brazzaville said. There was no word on casualties among the former rebels.

The government has promised to conduct a thorough investigation into the incident.

Order had generally been restored by Friday in the neighborhood where the fighting occurred, reports said.

Source: Xinhua