Police in Singapore have arrested 27 South Asian suspects after hundreds of people took part in a riot sparked by the death of an Indian national.

Trouble started after the 33-year-old man was knocked down by a private bus in a district known as Little India.

CEOAFRICA gathered that about 400 foreign workers took to the streets, hurling railings at police and torching police cars and an ambulance.

The report stated that 18 people at least were hurt, most of them police officers, before the violence was brought under control.

Police commissioner Ng Joo Hee was quoted to have said it was the first rioting in Singapore in more than 30 years.

He condemned it as "intolerable, wanton violence". "It is not the Singapore way," he said, adding that the outbreak of public disorder is rare in strictly-governed Singapore.

The wealthy city-state depends heavily on foreign workers, with migrant labourers from South Asia dominating sectors like construction.