China train station attack: 33 killed in mass stabbing in Yunnan province

Updated

Sorry, this video has expired Video: Dozens killed in stabbing rampage in China (7pm TV News NSW)

At least 33 people have been killed and more than 130 injured in a mass stabbing at a Chinese train station.

The bloody assault at the Kunming railway station in south-western Yunnan province was labelled a "violent terrorist" attack by Chinese president Xi Jinping.

Knife-wielding attackers dressed in black burst into the station on Saturday (local time) and began slashing indiscriminately, official news agency Xinhua said.

Standing near shops about 50 metres from the site, a parking attendant surnamed Chen said he could not believe what was happening when he saw the attackers.

"I walked out and I saw a person with a knife this big," Chen said, spreading his arms wide.

"Then I saw five or six of them. They all had knives and they were stabbing people madly over by the first and second ticket offices."

Kunming resident Yang Haifei told Xinhua that he was buying a ticket when he saw a group of people 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, adding that the attackers caught those who were slower.

"They just fell on the ground."

Police shot four of the attackers dead and captured one, Xinhua reported.

About five others were on the run, it said.

Government officials have blamed separatists from the Muslim province of Xinjiang.

Graphic pictures on the Twitter-like microblogging service Sina Weibo showed bodies covered in blood lying on the ground at the station.

State television showed police wrapping a long, sword-like knife in a plastic bag, amid heavy security at the station.

Mr Xi ordered no effort be spared to track down those behind the attack.

'Premeditated terrorist attack'

Xinhua said the incident "was an organised, premeditated violent terrorist attack" carried out by "unidentified knife-wielding people".

State broadcaster CCTV also called the incident a "terrorist attack".

The attackers were dressed in similar black clothing, the official China News Service said, citing eyewitnesses.

"A group of men carrying weapons burst into the train station plaza and the ticket hall, stabbing whoever they saw," it said.

Xinhua later said that "evidence at the crime scene showed that the Kunming Railway Station terrorist attack was carried out by Xinjiang separatist forces".

Knife and bomb attacks against local officials occur sporadically in Xinjiang, where the mainly Muslim Uighur ethnic minority complain of cultural repression and tight security, while Beijing says it is facing a violent separatist movement.

Incidents involving Uighurs are often labelled "terrorist attacks" while others carried out by Chinese seen as having grievances against society or the authorities are not.

The attack comes just days before China’s annual main session of parliament, the National People's Congress.

Throughout the country security has been stepped up in the run-up to the meeting.

Map: Kunming train station in China

ABC/wires

Topics: murder-and-manslaughter, crime, law-crime-and-justice, china, asia

First posted