Two Haitians were killed and seven others injured in a protest at the border town of Dajabon after 24 Haitian migrants were suffocated to death in a truck taking them illegally into neighboring Dominican Republic, reports reaching here said Friday.

The demonstrators threw stones at the troops of the United Nations Stabilization Mission and Dominican troops on the other side of the borderline.

Dominican officials, involved in operation Vaquero II (Second Cowboy) to tackle the smuggling of migrants, drugs and guns from Haiti, were put on high alert for any abnormal events.

The 24 Haitians were found dead Wednesday morning four days after being sealed in a truck, which was suspected of smuggling them across the border, according to Dominican investigators.

But Haitian media reported signs of gunshot wounds were found in their bodies.

On Thursday, the Haitians attacked the truck delivering the victims' bodies to a planned burial place with sticks and stones. They demanded an explanation for their compatriots' deaths.

The driver was forced to return to the Dominican Republic. The immigrant bodies were then buried in a Dominican mass grave.

Dominican Republic's deputy attorney general Frank Soto said Haitian fury made it impossible to deliver the bodies to the location of the UN stabilization mission in Haiti.

The Dominican Republic authorities said they had arrested more than 20 people for their part in the smuggle, including a van driver and his two assistants.

Up to 1 million Haitians, most of them illegal immigrants, are believed to be living in the Dominican Republic.

The Dominican Republic authorities often arrest and deport Haitians who enter the country illegally. Diplomatic rows involving immigration issues have clouded the relations between the two countries, which share the Caribbean island of Hispaniola.

Source: Xinhua