Kuala Lumpur  - Malaysian police killed five armed Vietnamese nationals, believed to be robbers, in a Saturday shootout, a news report said.

The five were among eight men suspected of having robbed 11 Vietnamese workers at a hostel in the northern state of Kedah and were making their getaway to the neighbouring state of Penang in two cars.

Acting on a tip-off, police managed to stop one of the cars, resulting in a shootout, Penang police chief Wira Ayub Yaakob said.

"The policemen, in self-defence, fired several shots at the car and killed the five men in it," Wira was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency.

He said the other three suspects travelling in another car escaped, adding that authorities were trying to track the men down.

Police have been placed on alert for an increase in crime involving foreign workers following retrenchments for many of the labourers because of the economic slowdown, Wira said. (dpa)