At least 129 people were killed in in rioting by a Muslim ethnic group in China's far west, state media said Monday.
The brief report from Xinhua news agency gave no more details.
Protesters, mostly from the Uighur ethnic group, set dozens of cars on fire and attacked buses in several hours of violence in the Xinjiang province city of Urumqi on Sunday. The violence appeared to subside as the police and military presence intensified into the night, according to participants and witnesses.
Tensions between Uighurs and the majority Han Chinese are never far from the surface in Xinjiang, China's vast Central Asian buffer province, where militant Uighurs have waged sporadic, violent separatist campaign. The overwhelming majority of Urumqi's 2.3 million people are Han Chinese.
State television aired footage that appeared to show protesters attacking and kicking people on the ground. Other people sat dazed with blood pouring down their faces.
Mobile phone service provided by at least one company was cut Monday to stop people from organizing further action in Xinjiang.
The protest started Sunday with demonstrators demanding an investigation into a fight between Uighurs and Han Chinese workers at a southern China factory last month. Accounts differed over what happened next in Xinjiang's capital of Urumqi, but the violence seemed to have started when a crowd of protesters — who started out peaceful — refused to disperse.
State media said at least 37 people — both Uighur and Han Chinese — were hospitalized with injuries.
The brief report from Xinhua news agency gave no more details.
Protesters, mostly from the Uighur ethnic group, set dozens of cars on fire and attacked buses in several hours of violence in the Xinjiang province city of Urumqi on Sunday. The violence appeared to subside as the police and military presence intensified into the night, according to participants and witnesses.
Tensions between Uighurs and the majority Han Chinese are never far from the surface in Xinjiang, China's vast Central Asian buffer province, where militant Uighurs have waged sporadic, violent separatist campaign. The overwhelming majority of Urumqi's 2.3 million people are Han Chinese.
State television aired footage that appeared to show protesters attacking and kicking people on the ground. Other people sat dazed with blood pouring down their faces.
Mobile phone service provided by at least one company was cut Monday to stop people from organizing further action in Xinjiang.
The protest started Sunday with demonstrators demanding an investigation into a fight between Uighurs and Han Chinese workers at a southern China factory last month. Accounts differed over what happened next in Xinjiang's capital of Urumqi, but the violence seemed to have started when a crowd of protesters — who started out peaceful — refused to disperse.
State media said at least 37 people — both Uighur and Han Chinese — were hospitalized with injuries.
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- News, News and Information, Peoples Republic of China, Asia, 1 more
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- Future_America
- added this
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@raykwong on twitter says "What? MSNBC reports that at least 129 people killed in Muslim minority riots."
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- twitterbot
- 5 months ago
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@PryFry on twitter says "China: 140 killed in riots in west: Violence in the capital of China's Xinjiang region killed 140 people and inj.."
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- twitterbot
- 5 months ago
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thats a tampered story, this is an offical chinese story, i prefer the real story :D
