Post date: Mar 02, 2014 12:4:0 AM
Police investigate train station attack which killed at least 29 and injured over 130 in southwest China, state media reports.
KUNMING CITY, YUNNAN PROVINCE, CHINA (MARCH 1, 2014) (CCTV) - Chinese police carried out investigative work on Saturday (March 1) after an attack at a train station which killed at least 29 people and injured more than 130 in southwest China, state media reported.
Official state-run news agency Xinhua described the incident as a "organised, premeditated violent terrorist attack".Police were searching for around five others of the unidentified attackers, it said.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV showed footage of local police carrying out investigative work on Saturday evening in the aftermath of the incident as onlookers watched cautiously from a distance.
CCTV also showed police wrapping a long, sword-like knife in a plastic bag, amid heavy security at the station.
Graphic pictures on the Twitter-like microblogging service Sina Weibo showed bodies covered in blood lying on the ground at the station.
There was no immediate word on who was responsible.
Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered no effort be spared to track down those behind the attack.
"Severely punish in accordance with the law the violent terrorists and resolutely crack down on those who have been swollen with arrogance," Xinhua quoted him as saying.
"Understand the serious and complex nation of combating terrorism," Xi said. "Go all out to maintain social stability."
Domestic security chief Meng Jianzhu was on his way to the scene, Xinhua said.
Weibo users took to the service to describe details of what happened, though many of the posts were quickly deleted by government censors, especially those that described the attackers, two of whom were identified by some as women.
The attack comes at a sensitive time as China gears up for the annual meeting of parliament, which opens in Beijing on Wednesday and is normally accompanied by a tightening of security across the country.
China has blamed similar incidents in the past on Islamist militants operating in the restive far western region of Xinjiang, though such attacks have generally been limited to Xinjiang itself.
China says its first major suicide attack, in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in October, involved militants from Xinjiang, home to the Muslim Uighur people, many of whom chafe at Chinese restrictions on their culture and religion.