476 People Stabbed By Syringe Needles In China’s Xinjiang Region

by Yuliya Talmazan | September 3, 2009 at 10:30 am

164 views | 2 Recommendations | 0 comments

Eerie syringe attacks have caused panic in the Xinjiang region of China. 476 people were attacked with syringe needles since August 20. Fifteen people were detained in connection to the stabbings.

"Since August 20, the Xinjiang government has been receiving reports by local disease control centres that people have been attacked with syringes," said a report on Bingtuan Television, a Xinjiang-based station.

It added that 476 people had reported being attacked, but did not say whether the syringes that had been used were empty or contaminated.

The Xinjiang province has seen waves of ethnic violence in the recent months. Hundreds of people died in June and July of this year in clashes between ethnic Hans and Uighurs.

The syringe attacks are provoking new rioting today.

The official Xinhua News Agency says hundreds of people assembled in several areas of Urumqi to demand security guarantees from authorities after the syringe attacks.