[Warning: graphic photos]

[Updated 8/14, 9.45am] A stabbing attack that occurred in broad daylight in front of the Uniqlo store in Sanlitun's Taikoo Li Thursday morning has left one Chinese woman dead and a French man injured.

Photographs of the incident, which took place in front of hundreds of onlookers, show the female victim on the ground, having sustained a chest wound, with the injured male trying to assist her. They have since been identified as a married Chinese and French couple.

Other photos show the suspect wielding a meter-long sword nearby, voluntarily lying down on the pavement when approached by police, who then cordoned off the area.

An official Beijing Public Security Bureau statement released via Weibo just after 3.20pm (below) indicated that the woman who had been attacked died from her injuries. The statement says that the attacker, whose surname is Gao, is 25 years and from Tonghua in Jilin Province. Police are continuing their investigation.

As of Thursday night, sources close to the victim tell the Beijinger that the man injured is safe after surgery at Chaoyang Hospital to treat wounds that did not reach any of his internal organs.

The Beijing News reported Friday morning that the couple was married only 10 days ago and had planned to relocate to France in a month.

The Uniqlo outlet was already notorious, with one of its dressing rooms providing setting for a widely-viewed amateur sex video, shot and posted to the Internet via Weibo in July. Five people have since been arrested in connection with that incident.

This latest attack comes just over two years after a similar stabbing at the Joy City mall on Qingnian Lu in eastern Beijing, during which an American woman was killed and another man was injured.

Photos and videos of the scene were shared widely via WeChat and Weibo yesterday (warning: graphic content):

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Email: tomarnstein@thebeijinger.com

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Photos: weibo.com, inews.qq.com