Attack in restive Chinese region kills 31, wounds 90

PanARMENIAN.Net - Attackers have crashed two cars into shoppers at a market in the Xinjiang capital, Urumqi, and thrown explosives, killing 31 people, according to BBC News.

One of the vehicles exploded in the attack on Thursday, May 22 morning. More than 90 people were hurt.

The Ministry of Public Security called it a "violent terrorist incident".

There are periodic outbreaks of violence in Xinjiang, which is home to the Muslim Uighur minority group. Last month a bomb attack at a station in Urumqi killed three people and injured dozens more. China blamed the attack on Uighur separatists.

Information about incidents in the region, where ethnic tensions between Uighurs and Han Chinese continue, is tightly controlled.

Pictures on Weibo - China's equivalent of Twitter - taken by eyewitnesses appeared to show that Thursday's attack happened at one end of a busy market street lined with stalls selling vegetables.

"Witnesses said two cross-country vehicles driving from north to south ploughed into people in the market at 07:50. Explosives were thrown out of the vehicles," the state-run Xinhua news agency said.

One photo showed flames engulfing a junction and others showed at least three fire engines mobilized to put out the fire.

Local media said eyewitnesses heard multiple explosions. The injured were taken to several hospitals.