Dhaka, Jun 19 (IANS): Clashes erupted between hundreds of Chinese and Bangladeshi construction workers at the site of a partly-built China-funded power plant in the country on Wednesday in which a Chinese worker was killed.

Violence took place after a Bangladeshi worker fell to his death and local workers reportedly accused the Chinese of trying to cover up the incident in the country's Patuakhali district, the police told the BBC.

One Chinese worker was killed in the fighting and more than 1,000 police officers were needed to restore calm, the report said.

Chinese firms have invested heavily in Bangladesh in recent years, funding bridges, roads and power plants. In some areas of the South Asian country, the large number of Chinese workers has led to tensions with local communities, reports say.

About 6,000 workers - 2,000 of them Chinese - are employed at the plant in Patuakhali, about 200 km from the capital Dhaka, the police said.

Local Police Chief Moinul Hasan said that a Bangladeshi worker had died after falling from a height on Tuesday night and an argument then broke out between the two groups of workers before erupting into violence.

More than a dozen workers were injured, six of them Chinese. One of the Chinese workers suffered head injuries and later died in hospital, the police said.