Taipei - Two Taiwan naval personnel have been arrested for armed robbery which left one Vietnamese prostitute dead and another injured, Taiwan press said Saturday. Tseng Shao-tzu and Liang Poh-yu, both 20, committed the armed burglary and murder Friday in Kaohsiung City, south Taiwan, near the Tsoying Naval Base.

They face a court martial and the death penalty, if found guilty, several newspapers reported.

According to the China Times, Tseng and Liang became acquainted with Le Kim-phuong, 34, a Vietnamese woman running an underground brothel in her apartment near the base.

Knowing that the woman was likely to have cash and gold at home, the pair obtained a duplicate of Le's door key and broke into the apartment Friday night, wearing hoods and surgery gloves.

Le tried to flee but the men stabbed her a dozen times in the back and right leg, and then killed the woman by slashing her throat.

They strangled another Vietnamese prostitute, Ngyuyen Thi-mei, 22, who was sleeping on the second floor. Ngyuyen survived by faking death.

Neighbours, awakened by Le's screams, called police who arrested Tseng and Liang at the scene.

On Friday, the Defence Ministry apologized to the public for the murder and vowed to severely punish the two men. (dpa)