MCLC: explosion rocks Urumqi train station

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: kirk (denton.2 at osu.edu)
Subject: explosion rock Urumqi train station
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Source: SCMP (4/30/14):
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1501108/dozens-injured-explosion-roc
ks-train-station-xinjiang-capital-urumqi

Dozens injured as explosion rocks train station in Xinjiang capital Urumqi
About 50 people injured by a blast outside Urumqi's southern railway
station, as President Xi Jinping wraps up first visit to Xinjiang where he
promised to "strike first" against terrorism
By Reuters, Xinhua in Beijing

An explosion occurred at a railway station in Urumqi, capital of China’s
restive far western region of Xinjiang, and injured people have been taken
to hospital, Xinhua said on Wednesday.

About 50 people were injured by the explosion at Urumqi's southern railway
station The Beijing News said, quoting local police.
Tianshan net said that the explosion "has caused casualities and deaths",
but did not clarify the death toll.

The blast happened around 7pm at the exit of the Urumqi south railway
station. The explosion was centred around some luggage left on the ground
between the station exit and a public bus stop, witnesses told Xinhua.

The blast was powerful. A man at a nearby hotel said he thought it was an
earthquake.

Police have cordoned off all entrances to the station square of the
station and armed police have been deployed. As of 8.30pm, the square was
still closed. Train services have been suspended. The number of casualties
remains unclear.

A local resident working at a nearby hostel told the South China Morning
Post that the blast took place at around 7pm outside the exit of the
Urumqi south railway station, after a train from Chengdu arrived.

“The blast was quite powerful and there were possibly deaths… Police have
cordoned off the railway station and the railway services are likely to
have been suspended,” he said over the phone, asking not to be named.

The blast was quite powerful and there were possibly deaths… Police have
cordoned off the railway station.

The station is one of the three railway stations in the city, and the
largest in Xinjiang.

Xinjiang intercity railway lines linking Urumqi with Kuytun, Shihezi,
Karamay cities are expected to start operation in the station on Thursday.
An opening ceremony will be launched on the same day.

Pictures on Weibo showed blood on suitcases and debris on the ground in
front of the station.

One picture showed what appeared to be a small blast area near a police
post, though it was unclear if there were any casualties in the photograph.

Calls to the Xinjiang government seeking comment were not answered.

“Police are evacuating people in surrounding areas,” Xinhua said. “Police
have cordoned off all entrances to the square of the station. Armed police
have been deployed in the square.”

The blast came just as President Xi Jinping was wrapping up a tour of
Xinjiang in which he spoke of plans to get tough on fighting terrorism.

“The long-term stability of Xinjiang is vital to the whole country’s
reform, development and stability; to the country’s unity, ethnic harmony
and national security as well as to the great revival of the Chinese
nation,” Xinhua quoted Xi as saying during his visit, in a report on
Wednesday.

A spokesman for the regional government, Luo Fuyong, told reporters the
situation was "well under control" on Wednesday.
He said the government was assessing casualty figures and investigating
the cause of the blast.

Xinjiang, resource-rich and strategically located on the borders of
central Asia, has been beset by violence for years, blamed by the
government on Islamist militants and separatists.