Police riot squads were dispatched twice over the weekend to a parking lot to stop brawls set off by a 0.5-yuan (6 US cents) dispute, reports Guangzhou Daily.

Many migrant workers earn a living at the parking lot, at Datong Road in the Liwan District, by moving cargo for trucks dropping off goods.

When a migrant worker pushed a trolley into a the parking lot on Saturday morning, the parking lot guards, who are also migrant workers, demanded that he pay a 1-yuan (12 US cents) "entrance fee".

When he said he was only willing to pay 0.5 yuan, he was beaten in an altercation that escalated to include about 100 people.

On Sunday, some of the workers returned to the parking lot to demand compensation for their injured friends but were refused. Both parties sent for extra help, triggering another fight involving nearly 200.

Riot police had to be summoned to break up both conflicts.

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