Geraldine Yeo and Yeoh En-lai – Bustling Batam became a ghost-town yesterday as residents stayed indoors and shops stayed shut after at least nine people died in ethnic clashes that started over the weekend.

Singapore businessmen reported close shaves on the island, about a 45-minute boat ride from here, following clashes between two immigrant groups, apparently over control of a bus route.

And up to 8pm, the dead and wounded, including one man who had his head hacked by a parang, were still being brought to Budi Kemuliaan Hospital in the island's main town of Nagoya. The hospital had reported at least three dead.

In Sekupang, in the north-west of Batam, where passengers taking the Batam ferry service from the World Trade Centre disembark, security officers armed with shotguns were seen guarding the nearby Otorita hospital.

There were six bodies in its morgue and six people in its emergency ward – victims of hatchets, steel bars, knives and other sharp weapons.

Residents said that the fighting was sparked off when immigrants from Flores, an island in eastern Indonesia, tried to muscle in on a bus route now run by the Bataks, originally from north Sumatra.

While most of the disturbances took place in Batu Aji, 30 minutes from Nagoya by car, there was at least one instance of trouble in the town centre of Nagoya itself, resulting in the Sentosa hotel locking its doors to the public.

A Singapore businessman who was there with four others on Wednesday recounted how a group of parang-wielding Bataks attacked the hotel in their search for Flores.

The troubles, however, have not affected Singapore-owned shipyards on the island's north-west or the Batamindo Industrial Park in Muka Kuning run by Singapore's Sembcorp Industries.

"The operations of our park have not been disrupted in any way, and the inflow of raw materials and the outflow of products are proceeding normally," Batamindo said in a statement yesterday. "We are monitoring the situation and have been assured by the Batam Police that they have everything under control."

The Nagoya town centre was quiet. Shops had closed by mid-afternoon as shopkeepers shied away, fearing trouble.

While most victims were members of the two immigrant groups, there may have been at least one case of mistaken identity.

Miss Hariyanti, 21, who was watching over a friend, a 25-year-old security guard who had been stabbed in the head and brought to Budi Kemuliaan Hospital last night, said: "I don't understand why he was hit, he is not a Flores, he is not a Batak, he is Malay. I am very angry that this is happening. It should stop."

Mr Ricky Lim, honorary secretary of the Batam Singapore Club, said: "Even though the riots are contained in rural areas, we are still taking precautions. We've told our members not to wander around alone at night and to avoid travelling in rural areas if possible."

Officials are playing down the disturbances, with policemen offering assurances to visitors to the island.

"There was trouble a few days ago, but there's nothing to worry about now. Stay in Nagoya and you will be safe," said policeman Arief Nargono, who was guarding the duty-free shop at the ferry terminal in Sekupang.