A FIGHT broke out in a secondary school yesterday afternoon when it opened its doors to visitors for an inter-school sepak takraw match.

Five students were overpowered, kicked and punched by 15 to 20 youths, who were mostly visitors.

The students, all aged 16 and in Secondary 4 at Bedok North Secondary School, suffered cuts and bruises on their heads, hands and faces.

While the injuries may not be serious, the incident has upset the students' parents and led them to ask if the school had done enough to ensure the students' safety.

But Bedok North Secondary School principal Susie Ho said the school had done its best to check on the visitors yesterday by making them sign in at the guardhouse.

She said all visitors to the school had to follow proper procedures to ensure the students' safety.

The fight took place around 4pm on the third storey of the school, outside the assembly hall, said one of the injured students, Allan Lee.

He said that just before the fight, the five students had been on the second storey, trying to decorate a toilet as part of the school's Community Involvement Programme.

He said that another injured student, Shawn Goh, had been punched by aschoolmate in a dispute earlier that day.

While they were in the toilet, one of the attackers, believed to be a current student, entered and asked the group to go with him if they wanted to find the schoolmate who had allegedly punched Shawn.

The group did as told.

Said another injured student, Shawn Quek: 'We went not because we wanted to beat up that guy. We just wanted to clarify matters with him.'

AMBUSH?

But the group soon realised that they had walked into an ambush.

Said Shawn Quek: 'The attackers appeared from nowhere and started beating us.

'I fell to the ground and tried to protect myself from the kicks and punches.'

He suffered bruises on his nose, right ear and right hand.

Another injured student was Calvin Ding, who said the fight lasted about five minutes.

He said the attackers were not carrying weapons and were clearlyvisitors as they were not wearing the school's uniform.

The fight ended when several students passing by shouted at the attackers, who fled from the school compound immediately.

Ms Ho said the vice-principal told her about the fight.

Said Ms Ho: 'Our students' safety is our priority. When we heard about the incident, we immediately called the ambulance and police.'

Calvin's father, Mr Ding Chiw Hong, 43, said he was worried when he had a call from his wife that his son had been injured in a fight.

As he rushed to the hospital, MrDing, a taxi driver, said he feared that his son could have suffered serious injuries.

He was relieved to find that Calvin had only cuts to his lips.

Mr Goh Soon Teck, Shawn Goh's father, questioned the school's security measures.

Said Mr Goh, 47, who is self-employed: 'How can outsiders come in and start a fight within aschool?'

Mr Ding also expressed surprise that the fight had happened in the school compound.

He said: 'I hope the school will give us a proper explanation.'

He said the school should tighten its security measures.

Ms Ho said that some of the visitors involved in the incident could be ex-students who were there to watch the sepak takraw match.

She said the school would provide counselling services for the fiveinjured students.

Police spokesman Mohd Razif said the police were informed about the incident around 5.40pm and are investigating.

- Additional reporting by Teo Chin Ghee and Charissa Yong