Vietnamese in German murder trial

Police arrested two suspects very soon after the murders

Five Vietnamese men have gone on trial in Germany over the killing of seven people in a Chinese restaurant.

The victims were the restaurant owners, both British citizens from Hong Kong, as well as five employees from Vietnam, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand.

Prosecutors say the murders were the result of a bungled armed robbery.

Three of the defendants face murder charges, while the other two are accused of aggravated armed robbery and incitement to murder.

The killings took place in February this year in the town of Sittensen near Hamburg.

The judge adjourned the trial until 11 September.

State prosecutors believe the men attempted to rob the Lin Yue restaurant, but the hold-up turned into a bloodbath when one of the men panicked and opened fire.

Five staff from Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Hong Kong were tied up and shot dead along with restaurant owner Danny Wing Hong Fan, 32, and his 28-year-old wife, Anny, both British citizens.

Only their two-year-old daughter survived.

'Bungled robbery'

The prosecution says the suspects took cash and mobile phones from the restaurant, pointing to a robbery rather than a settling of scores in the Chinese underworld, which was the initial theory.

Two suspects were arrested in the northern city of Bremen, just 12 hours after the murders took place.

A third man was arrested in May and is believed to have taken part in the attack inside the restaurant.

Two others were arrested in June. One is alleged to have acted as a lookout outside, while the other, who had a casual job with the restaurant, is believed by prosecutors to have planned the robbery.

The accused have denied the charges and the court is expected to hear testimonies from some 40 witnesses.