3 dead, 79 injured in Xinjiang railway station terrorist attack

People wait at an entrance to the south railway station of Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, after an explosion on April 30. People in the square in front of the station and nearby were evacuated immediately after the blast, and police cordoned off all entrances to the square of the station. [Photo by Gao Bo/China Daily]

Three people were confirmed dead and 79 others were injured in a violent terrorist attack at a railway station in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Wednesday evening.

Four people were seriously injured but in stable condition, said the publicity department of the regional committee of the Communist Party of China.

An initial police investigation showed knife-wielding mobs slashed people at the exit of the South Railway Station of Urumqi and set off explosives, it added.

All injured have been sent to hospitals for treatment. Police are investigating the case. The attack occurred at around 7:10 p.m., with an explosion in the area between the station exit and a bus stop on BRT route 1. Some luggage and damaged motorcycles were left at the scene.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged "decisive actions" against violent terrorist attacks, after the blast.

"The battle to combat violence and terrorism will not allow even a moment of slackness, and decisive actions must be taken to resolutely suppress the terrorists' rampant momentum," Xi said.

Xi demanded profound awareness of the Xinjiang separatist forces and noted that the anti-separatism battle in Xinjiang is long-term, complicated and acute.

ACCOUNTS OF VICTIMS AND WITNESSES

A Nan-bread vendor told Xinhua that he heard two huge sounds of blast.

"The explosion was so powerful that I thought it was an earthquake," a man at a nearby hotel told Xinhua.

The injured were sent to Xinjiang Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital and Xinjiang People's Hospital, both about four kilometers from the station, according to the station police.

Zhang Bin was picking up friends at the exit, when he heard a "bang" and tumbled onto the ground, he told Xinhua in hospital.

He struggled to stand up and saw many others fall down. With bleeding left arm and injured hip, he ran away with the crowd and called his family before he was sent to the Xinjiang Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital.

"I've never expected such a thing could happen to me. If this was deliberate, I can't understand why they hurt innocent people? " said Zhang.

Xi urges 'decisive actions' against terrorism after Xinjiang blast

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