Hanoi  - A forest ranger was killed and two others were badly injured when illegal loggers attacked them in a forest in Vietnam's central highlands, a police official said Wednesday.

Huynh Lien, police chief of Cu Mgar district in Dak Lak province, said the rangers had underestimated the loggers' willingness to use violence to resist arrest.

Lien said five forest rangers had caught three loggers using a bulldozer to transport illegally harvested timber Tuesday. Ranger Phan Quoc Tan climbed onto the bulldozer to escort the loggers, while the other four agents drove alongside on two motorbikes.

The driver accelerated the bulldozer as one logger beat Tan with a wooden stick and pushed him onto the road. Tan died en route to a hospital.

Two other rangers tried to stop the bulldozer by maneuvering their motorbikes in front of it, but the driver ran them over. The loggers abandoned the bulldozer and fled, Lien said.

Ranger Le Xuan Nguyen suffered severe spinal injuries, while his colleague Nguyen Duong Le was injured in the chest. They were being treated at Dak Lak General Hospital.

Lien said police had arrested the logger who killed Tan and were searching for the others. (dpa)