Medical workers in Luanchuan county, Luoyang city, Central China's Henan province, take their protests against violence to the street, Jan 24, 2015. [Photo/CFP]

BEIJING - Hospital staff have demonstrated to demand better protection after a doctor and patient were killed in a fight, the latest incident to highlight problems in a system often overwhelmed with patients.

The deaths on Saturday came when a drunken man taking his friend to seek treatment for an injury started a fight with a doctor and they both fell down an elevator shaft.

The incident occurred at a hospital in Luanchuan county, Henan province. According to Xinhua, a drunk surnamed Li took his friend, also drunk, to see a doctor, and was scolded by nurses for being loud and noisy. Doctor Jia intervened and became involved in a scuffle. During the scuffle, an elevator door was somehow opened and the two fell down the shaft from the 15th floor to the ground. Both died.

The incident is the latest in a spate of violence at health facilities that has led to an increase in security.

Earlier, six nurses and an administrator were stabbed to death by a man with a history of mental illness at a sanatorium dormitory in November.