【纽约日报】At least 28 dead, 162 injured in train station 'terror' attack

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At least 28 dead, 162 injured in train station 'terror' attack in China, authorities sayThe 'violent terror attack' at the Kunming Railway Station took place late Saturday, according to China's official Xinhua news agency. Five of the knife-wielding attackers were shot dead, state media said.

REUTERS/STRINGER/CHINA

Police stand near luggage left at the ticket office after a group of knife-wielding assailants attacked people at Kunming railway station.

At least 28 people were killed in a "violent terrorist attack" at a train station in the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming by a group of unidentified people brandishing knives, five of whom were shot dead, state media said on Sunday.

Another 162 people were injured, the official Xinhua news agency added. It said the attack had taken place late on Saturday evening.

"It was an organized, premeditated violent terrorist attack," Xinhua said.

Police shot dead five of the attackers and were searching for around five others, it added.

LIN YIGUANG/XINHUA/ZUMAPRESS.COMThe exterior of Kunming Railway Station on March 1. At least 28 individuals are dead and another 162 are wounded after an unidentified group of people rushed into the station and started attacking bystanders, state media reported.

Kunming resident Yang Haifei told Xinhua that he was buying a ticket when he saw a group of people, mostly wearing black, rush into the station and start attacking bystanders.

"I saw a person come straight at me with a long knife and I ran away with everyone," he said. Those who were slower were caught by the attackers. "They just fell on the ground."

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.

REUTERS/STRINGERA policeman guards a man who was shot dead by police during the attack.

State television's microblog said domestic security chief Meng Jianzhu was on his way to the scene.

Weibo users took to the service to describe details of what happened, though many of those posts were quickly deleted by government censors, especially those that described the attackers, two of whom were identified by some as women.

Others condemned the attack.

"No matter who, for whatever reason, or of what race, chose somewhere so crowded as a train station, and made innocent people their target - they are evil and they should go to hell," wrote one user.

LIN YIGUANG/XINHUA/ZUMAPRESS.COM)Authorities deemed the incident a 'an organized, premeditated violent terrorist attack,' according to Xinhua.

The attack comes at a particularly 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 extremists 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.

Hu Xijin, editor of the influential Global Times newspaper, published by the ruling Communist Party's official People's Daily, wrote on his Weibo feed that the government should say who it suspected of the attack as soon as possible.

REUTERS/STRINGER/CHINAPolice investigate after a group of armed men attacked people at Kunming railway station late Saturday. Five of the attackers were shot dead, and officials are searching for about five more, Xinhua said.

"If it was Xinjiang separatists, it needs to be announced promptly, as hearsay should not be allowed to fill the vacuum," Hu wrote.

More picture from Kunming train station. pic.twitter.com/a0WxYA17UQ

— XQ (@MissXQ) March 1, 2014

Blood shed in Kun Ming train station. (Shared on weibo, no detailed info yet.) pic.twitter.com/bz1C9y0kJn

— XQ (@MissXQ) March 1, 2014

Police confirm injuries in Kunming railway station, 27 dead, 109 injured! pic from Sina weibo. what happened? #news pic.twitter.com/WHbN138Bto

— Rachel Yu (@rrym24) March 1, 2014

http://www.nydailynews.com/27-dead-train-station-knife-attack-china-article-1.1707232

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