Deadly Knife Attack in China Train Station Kills 29

At least 29 people dead and more than 130 wounded in China as knife-wielding assailants indiscriminately attack a train station Sunday, slashing people standing in line to buy tickets, state media said.

Report said victims described the attackers to have dressed in black as they went into Kunming station in Southern province of Yunnan attacking people there, prompting shock and outrage.

Xinhua news agency said police shot dead at least four assailants and were now hunting the others.

Authorities in Kunming placed the blame on the attack to the separatist from northwest region of Xinjang, a distant area of mostly-Muslim Uighur minority.

President Xi Jinping, according to Xinhua, has called for “all-out efforts” in the investigation and for the attackers to be punished “in accordance with the law”.

Moreover, United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, through his spokesman in a statement, has condemned “in the strongest terms” the “terrible attack on civilians.”

He notes that “there is no justification for the killing of innocent civilians and hopes that those responsible will be brought to justice”.

Xinhua reported Beijing’s top security official Meng Jianzhu, who arrived in Kunming early Sunday, visited the scene of the attack that came days before the opening of the annual session of the legislature, the National People’s Congress.

Xi and Premier Li Keqiang sent condolences to the victims and their families.

Image Credit: wvasfm.org