Reports from the Ivory Coast say five-hundred Ghanaians have taken refuge in a church, in the southwestern town of Sassandra, after violent clashes with local residents over fishing rights.

The Le Jour newspaper says seven Ghanaians died in the fighting, and more than twenty were injured.

Clashes broke out when Ivorians accused Ghanaians of fishing in a zone reserved for locals.

The Ghanaians are being protected by police and military officers and say they want to return home.

About four thousand Ghanaians and many Liberians live from fishing in the area, where the Sassandra river flows into the Atlantic Ocean.