TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A fight that broke out among sanitation workers in Taipei City on Thursday (Nov. 16) left two dead and one seriously injured.

At about 4 a.m. a confrontation began in Taipei City's Datong District when a 56-year-old sanitation team member surnamed Kao became dissatisfied with the attitude of a 58-year-old male colleague surnamed Wang, reported SET News. They arranged to settle their differences on Lanzhou Street.

Kao also brought two friends surnamed Liao and Li to back him up. As soon as the two parties met, they started slashing each other with knives.

Seeing the danger of the situation, Li fled the scene. Kao and Liao soon fell to the ground after suffering serious knife wounds and were declared dead after being rushed to a nearby hospital, while Wang was still alive but in critical condition.

Scene of fight. (Taipei City Police Department image)

Kao's girlfriend told police that he was upset about being treated like an underling, leading him to arrange the showdown with Wang.

The Datong Precinct of the Taipei City Police Department it received a report on Thursday morning saying some individuals were fighting on Lanzhou Street. Upon arriving at the scene, officers saw Kao and Liao lying in a pool of blood.

Wang was sitting upright on the side of the road, but his clothes were covered in blood. Police called for ambulances to send the three men to the nearest hospital.

Officers block off street. (Taipei City Police Department image)

Liao had stab wounds to his chest and puncture wounds on his back. He was rushed to Zhongxing Branch of Taipei City Hospital for emergency treatment but was pronounced dead at 5:49 a.m. Kao suffered multiple stab wounds all over his body and was rushed to National Taiwan University Hospital for emergency treatment, and was also pronounced dead at 6:05 a.m.

Wang also suffered stab wounds to the chest. He was in a coma and iundergoing emergency treatment, but doctors said his prognosis was not optimistic, per New-Reporter.

At the scene, police found two fruit knives, one folding knife, one baton, and other evidence at the scene that belonged to the parties involved in the brawl. According to a preliminary investigation, Kao and Wang were both from low-income households and had become sanitation workers for Datong District through a work-for-relief program.

Another view of brawl scene. (Taipei City Police Department image)

A rift had developed between them due to work-related issues, leading to the fight. Consequently, they agreed to settle their differences near Wang's residence through a "win or lose" confrontation.

Kao's girlfriend said that she would sometimes accompany him on cleaning duties. She said that Kao and Wang were not good friends, and Wang being more experienced, tended to act as though he was superior.

Wang would often speak poorly of new colleagues and even called Kao his "younger brother." When Kao learned of this, he became very angry, leading to his decision to challenge Wang and settle the matter.

Officer gathers evidence. (Taipei City Police Department image)

Li also confirmed her testimony. He said that Kao and Wang had gotten into an argument at work on Wednesday.

Kao said that he wanted to teach Wang a lesson on how to behave. He then sought the assistance of Li and Liao to confront Wang at his residence.

However, to Li's surprise, both sides immediately engaged in a knife fight. As Li had not brought any weapons, he said he had no choice but to flee the scene.