Dhaka , Bangladesh ( CNN ) -- At least 10 people living in a squalid refugee camp in the capital of Bangladesh died in a riot and arson attack Saturday , police and other government officials said . `` Most of the victims are women and children and the government has already ordered an investigation , '' district relief and rehabilitation officer Ekramul Haque told CNN . Police and witnesses said violent clashes erupted between locals and people living in the camp , who are widely known as `` stranded Pakistanis , '' in the Mirpur district of Dhaka . The incident followed an altercation when a group of children set off firecrackers during a religious event earlier on Saturday . Police said nine people were burned to death while the other was shot dead during the clashes . Urdu-speaking camp residents allege that several hundred Bengalis carrying machetes and logs attacked the shanty town and set fire to their houses ; firefighters later extinguished the flames . Police told CNN they opened fire and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse the angry mob ; they said they detained more than 50 people at the scene . A leader of the refugees , Abdul Jabbar Khan , claimed the attack was a part of a move by local influential politicians who wanted to evict the refugees from the camps . But Elias Mollah , a member of parliament from Mirpur , who belongs to the ruling Awami League party , denied the allegations . Khan who heads the Stranded Pakistanis General Repatriation Committee ( SPGRC ) told CNN about 2,000 people were living in the camp when it came under attack on Saturday . He said about 300,000 Urdu-speaking people live on government land in around 70 shanty towns , known as `` Bihari camps . '' During the partition of India in 1947 , several hundred thousand Muslims , mostly from the Indian state of Bihar , came to Dhaka and other cities in what is now Bangladesh . After Bangladesh gained independence , Pakistan refused to repatriate most of the Urdu-speaking people and they remained stranded in refugee camps . In 2008 , Bangladesh 's Supreme Court ruled that those who were born after independence had the right to Bangladeshi citizenship . 12 dead , dozens missing after Bangladesh ferry capsizes .
The attack , riots left 10 people in Dhaka refugee camp dead . Most victims are women and children , says relief officer . Security forces dispersed angry crowds with tear gas .