KUNMING, China – Witnesses of a horrifying attack at a Chinese train station which killed 29 people and wounded about 130 have described how injured victims fled in panic amid the sound of gunshots.
A heavy police presence was in place at Kunming station in the southwestern province of Yunnan after knife-wielding attackers slashed indiscriminately as people queued to buy tickets late on Saturday, an incident blamed by authorities on separatists from the restive Xinjiang region.
A station cleaner, who gave his surname as He, said police fired on the assailants for about half an hour as scores of people were being carried out on stretchers with bandaged wounds.
State media said at least four attackers were shot dead, while one was arrested.
The hunt for others continues.
“I saw five of them leaving… Then I heard gunshots. (It was) likely to be going on for half an hour,” said He, adding he felt terrified returning to work the morning after the bloodshed.
