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| Blast hits railway station in Xinjiang, China | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| An explosion has taken place at a railway station in the far-west region of Xinjiang, where ethnic tensions have been simmering for years, according to Chinese state media. | An explosion has taken place at a railway station in the far-west region of Xinjiang, where ethnic tensions have been simmering for years, according to Chinese state media. |
| The official Xinhua news agency said the number of casualties from the blast, which took place in the region's capital, Urumqi, was unclear. But the state-owned Beijing News said that 50 people were injured at first count, citing reports from the police station at the transport hub. | |
| Xinjiang is home to a Muslim Uighur minority population and at the centre of a low-intensity insurgency against the rule of the majority Han Chinese. According to Beijing News, the victims have been taken to the city's Autonomous Region Hospital of Chinese Medicine in Urumqi. The hospital and police station could not immediately be reached for comment. | |
| Searches for "Urumqi explosion" have been blocked on Sina Weibo, the country's most popular microblog. | |
| It was unclear whether China's president, Xi Jinping – who had been on a four-day trip to Xinjiang, according to state media – was in the region at the time of the blast. During his visit, Xi had taken a tough line on what he called terror activities in the region. "You must have the most effective means to deal with violent terrorists," he said, according to the state newswire Xinhua. "The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in wartime." | |
| Beijing accuses the separatists of inciting animosity, while government critics say restrictive and discriminatory policies have alienated the Uighurs. | Beijing accuses the separatists of inciting animosity, while government critics say restrictive and discriminatory policies have alienated the Uighurs. |
| In March, five people armed with knives and believed to be Uighurs attacked crowds at a railway station in south-west China, killing 29 people. |