15 killed in Kashgar weekend of riots
Source: Xinhua |
August 1, 2011, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
AT least 15 people died in a weekend of violence in Kashgar in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
Four suspected rioters were shot dead by police yesterday afternoon. Four others were caught, while police were hunting another four following a violent incident at 4:30pm yesterday in which three people were hacked to death and more than 10 pedestrians and police officers injured.
On Saturday night at least seven people were killed by rioters in the city. Two suspects hijacked a truck at 11:45pm, fatally stabbing the driver and ramming into pedestrians.
The pair later jumped out of the truck and hacked at bystanders.
Six people were killed at the scene and 28 others were injured.
One of the rioters died while fighting with local residents, the other was apprehended.
Before the incident two explosions were heard. The first was at about 10:30pm from a minivan, the other at almost the same time from a food street where the men had hijacked the truck.
In the aftermath of Saturday's incident, Kashgar's streets were almost deserted, and residents were still shaken by the tragic events.
"I can't believe this happened," said a tearful Yang Hongmei. "One of my colleagues died."
Yang said many people were gathered on the square outside her office when the suspects rushed into the throng and began attacking them. "Our security guards tried to save the residents while our manager attempted to subdue an attacker by holding him, but the man had a knife and stabbed him in his abdomen," she said.
The manager was taken to the hospital but later died.
"There were cries and blood everywhere," Yang said. "Terrified people flooded into our office to hide."
Li Fu was repairing motorcycles by the road when Saturday's violence erupted. "I saw a blue truck speed through the crossing and plough into the crowd," he said.
At first Li thought it was an accident.
"But soon I heard people screaming 'someone is killing people.'"
Xinjiang, home to China's Uygur minority, has long been under terrorist threat.
Police shot 14 rioters who attacked a police station and killed four people in Xinjiang's Hotan City on July 18.
The attack left four people dead and at least four others injured.
Police said the incident was "a severely violent terrorism case."
There was a major riot in Urumqi, the capital, on July 5, 2009, where rock-throwing and knife-wielding rioters looted shops, torched vehicles and killed nearly 200 people.
In March 2008, five months before the Beijing Olympics, police arrested a 19-year-old Uygur for a terrorist attempt on a passenger flight.
Four suspected rioters were shot dead by police yesterday afternoon. Four others were caught, while police were hunting another four following a violent incident at 4:30pm yesterday in which three people were hacked to death and more than 10 pedestrians and police officers injured.
On Saturday night at least seven people were killed by rioters in the city. Two suspects hijacked a truck at 11:45pm, fatally stabbing the driver and ramming into pedestrians.
The pair later jumped out of the truck and hacked at bystanders.
Six people were killed at the scene and 28 others were injured.
One of the rioters died while fighting with local residents, the other was apprehended.
Before the incident two explosions were heard. The first was at about 10:30pm from a minivan, the other at almost the same time from a food street where the men had hijacked the truck.
In the aftermath of Saturday's incident, Kashgar's streets were almost deserted, and residents were still shaken by the tragic events.
"I can't believe this happened," said a tearful Yang Hongmei. "One of my colleagues died."
Yang said many people were gathered on the square outside her office when the suspects rushed into the throng and began attacking them. "Our security guards tried to save the residents while our manager attempted to subdue an attacker by holding him, but the man had a knife and stabbed him in his abdomen," she said.
The manager was taken to the hospital but later died.
"There were cries and blood everywhere," Yang said. "Terrified people flooded into our office to hide."
Li Fu was repairing motorcycles by the road when Saturday's violence erupted. "I saw a blue truck speed through the crossing and plough into the crowd," he said.
At first Li thought it was an accident.
"But soon I heard people screaming 'someone is killing people.'"
Xinjiang, home to China's Uygur minority, has long been under terrorist threat.
Police shot 14 rioters who attacked a police station and killed four people in Xinjiang's Hotan City on July 18.
The attack left four people dead and at least four others injured.
Police said the incident was "a severely violent terrorism case."
There was a major riot in Urumqi, the capital, on July 5, 2009, where rock-throwing and knife-wielding rioters looted shops, torched vehicles and killed nearly 200 people.
In March 2008, five months before the Beijing Olympics, police arrested a 19-year-old Uygur for a terrorist attempt on a passenger flight.
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