At least seven people were shot dead and four others injured late Saturday night in an armed fight between two families in Qena governorate in southern Egypt, a Xinhua correspondent said.

The tragedy was a renewal of a similar dispute between the two big families last year.

Heavy fire exchange forced stores to shut down and made surrounding streets free of passersby, witnesses said.

The police had imposed a security cordon around the area and forced a ceasefire, while the victims were sent to the morgue and those injured to a nearby hospital.

In early June, four people were killed and 15 others injured in a similar fight between two families in southern Egypt's Aswan.

Illegal weapon trade and possession have increased in Egypt due to lack of security following the upheaval that ousted ex- President Hosni Mubarak in early 2011.

The Interior Ministry said it had seized over 4,500 pieces of illegally-possessed weapons nationwide since the beginning of June.