Kung Fu Revolt Leaves 21 Dead

Radio Malagasy said today the army had put down a revolt by youthful kung fu students in a nine-hour battle that left 21 people dead and 31 others injured.

The broadcast from the Malagasy Republic, formerly Madagascar, said troops moved in with a dozen tanks and surrounded the headquarters of a kung fu club in a suburb north of the capital. Kung fu was banned on the Indian Ocean island in 1984 on the ground that its practitioners had turned violent. Youths took up the sport after seeing the kung fu films of the late Bruce Lee.