The BBC's Simon Ingram: "An exodus has begun"

Buildings were also set on fire as gangs fought street battles in Ambon city in a second day of sporadic violence.

The state news agency Antara said police had opened fire on the rioters.

The fighting has left many children homeless

Police said the situation was brought under control when security forces fired into the air to disperse crowds.

But residents said fighting and burning was still going on.

The clashes are said to have taken place in an area of Ambon city where a Muslim district meets a Christian one.

Antara said local residents tried to escape the bloodshed by seeking shelter in churches, mosques and military facilities.

The head of a local hospital said that bullets taken from the victims' bodies were similar to those used by security forces, the agency reported.

Antara said five members of the military had suffered gunshot wounds.

A local television reporter said 60 people had been shot, but did not say if they had been killed or injured.

Shoot on sight

Clashes between the two communities resumed earlier this year and it is estimated that at least 400 people have been killed since then.

BBC correspondents in the region say religious strife has been an abiding fear of the Indonesian authorities.

Last month the military issued a shoot-on-sight order to troops facing rioters on the island, while about 800 Indonesian marines were sent to Ambon city.

Gunshot wounds

The Antara agency said 20 houses had been burned down at the border of the Mardika and Batumerah sub-districts.

The head of the Al Fatah Hospital, Paing Suryaman, was quoted as saying that most of the victims had died from gunshot wounds.

The Chief of the provincial police, Bugis Saman, was quoted by Antara as saying: "Security officers were compelled to shoot at the mobs who were threatening lives with their brutal activities.

"Officers tried using a persuasive approach but without gaining any [positive] response from the mobs.