KUALA LUMPUR: A tourist here lost his cool and allegedly punched a taxi driver who quoted him an exorborant fare for a short-distance ride.

Witnesses said the incident occurred around 11.15am Friday near Jalan Alor, off Jalan Bukit Bintang, as the foreigner in his 40s was waiting outside a hotel near the area.

"He had asked about five taxis earlier to drive him to a certain location. But all of them refused to use the meter and were asking him to pay a high fare.

"When he reached the sixth taxi, he must have already been angry by then and when the taxi driver asked for a similar exorborant fee, he started shouting explicit language at the driver.

"The driver shouted back at him and got punched in the face," said a witness who declined to be identified.

The 51 year-old-taxi driver, furious at being punched twice in the face, got out of his cab, pulled out a small stick and hit the foreigner on the head.

This led to a full-blown brawl between the two that bystanders were powerless to stop.

The foreigner also grabbed a rock and smashed the back window and side mirror of the taxi.

DBKL enforcement officers and policemen arrived at the scene soon after to break up the fight.

Both men were left bloodied from the multiple injuries they suffered on their bodies, head and hands.

The tourist was taken to the Tun H.S. Lee police station for questioning and the taxi driver lodged a report on the matter.

City CID chief Senior Asst Comm Datuk Ku Chin Wah said the matter would investigated further.

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