2014-03-02 18:43:43

Dozens killed in China knife attack


(Vatican Radio) : In southern China, around 30 people are dead and 130 injured after assailants attacked them with knives. The attack took place at a railway station. Around ten assailants drew knives and slashed passersby at a railway station in the city of Kunming.

Witnesses said the attackers appeared to be armed with fruit knives and were lunging at everyone nearby. People fled and sheltered in shops nearby, while fire trucks reportedly became makeshift ambulances to take survivors to hospital.

Police said they shot dead four attackers and arrested another.

The attackers' identity was unclear, but local authorities called it a premeditated terrorist attack by separatists from China's far West, where there have been deadly clashes between ethnic Uighurs and police.

It is the first time Chinese authorities have accused those separatists of mounting an attack of this kind so far from their home province.

But in November last year, authorities blamed separatists from Xinjiang in an apparent suicide attack that killed five people in central Beijing.

China's president called for "all-out efforts" to find those responsible and bring them to justice. Security officials said police would show zero tolerance in solving the case. Listen to Alastair Wanklyn's report RealAudioMP3








All the contents on this site are copyrighted ©.