Cypriot police fired tear gas on Friday after a fire broke out at a crowded reception center for migrants sparked by a dispute between different nationalities, officials said.

One person required hospital treatment after being injured in the Pournara refugee camp on the outskirts of the capital Nicosia.

People threw rocks and objects at each other, forcing many to flee in panic, and firefighters rushed to put out a blaze that sent plumes of smoke skyward. Tensions “later calmed down,” police said.

Police chief Stelios Papatheodorou blamed the violence on overcrowding at the centre, which has more than doubled its original capacity of 800 people.

“The police are doing everything they can to protect the area and the residents of the camp,” Papatheodorou said.

Cypriot news agency Philenews said clashes broke out between asylum seekers from the DRC and Nigeria, two of the largest migrant groups in Cyprus.

EU member Cyprus says it is at the forefront of the bloc’s irregular migration flows and last year reported the highest number of asylum seekers per population.

The small EU state has lobbied in Brussels to take action against the “disproportionate” number of asylum seekers it is receiving.

In the Greek-Cypriot-governed southern Cyprus with its 850,000 inhabitants, new asylum applications multiplied last year to over 13,000.

In March, a report by the Cypriot Children’s Rights Commissioner detailed chronic overcrowding, appalling sanitation and reports of meager food rations at Pournara camp, prompting officials to vow to work to improve conditions.