Chinese Stabbing Attack Leaves Six People Dead In Changsha

At least five people were stabbed to death by a street peddler in the central Chinese city of Changsha, Hunan Province early on Friday morning. According to Reuters, the attacker was identified as Hebir Turdi who was later shot dead by the police. The attack was a result of an argument between Turdi and a colleague who has been identified as Memet Abla. The duo had an argument and resulted in Abla being hacked to death. Four other people who were killed were mere bystanders, the report said.

According to the local police, both the men were colleagues who ran a shop that sold Naan in the local Shahuqiao Market. Naan is a popular flatbread amongs the local Uyghur community. Eyewitness say that following an argument, the attacker, Hebir Turdi, turned on his colleague with a long knife and hacked him several times. He continued hacking him even after the victim fell to the ground in a pool of blood.

According to Chinese news Agency Xinhua, after stabbing Abla, Turdi tried to flee from the scene. It is unclear why he stabbed four more people whilst doing that. Two of those onlookers were pronounced dead on the spot, while two others died in a hospital. Meanwhile, the police who had been called in by now followed Hebir Turdi and eventually shot and killed him, bringing the ordeal to an end.

Eyewitness also add that they have seen the police arrest one man from near the scene of the attack. At this juncture, it is unclear if this arrest has any connection with this particular case. From the names of the attacker and the first victim, it appears that both belonged to the Uyghur community, who primarily live in the far Western Chinese province of Xinjiang.

Meanwhile pictures from the scene of the attack were being circulated on Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter. One of the images showed a person lying on the ground, injured.

This is the second incident of public stabbing reported from China is less than two weeks. Another stabbing attack happened on March 1 in the southwestern city of Kunming, killing as many as 29 people and injuring more than 140 people. China had stepped up security around the country following that attack. That attack was blamed by the authorities to be the handiwork of “Xinjiang separatist terrorists”. Police had to shoot dead four of the attackers in the Kunming incident as well. Three suspects were arrested in connection with the same. A fourth suspect, a woman was also detained.

Images via South China Morning Post