Shocked eyewitness accounts of the bloody Kunming
Railway Station massacre by Turkic militants by Shanshan Xu
End of the line: Chinese police on guard after shooting dead four attackers
What sections of the state-controlled
media called “China’s 9/11” – the terrorist
knife attack that left 29 dead in Yunan
– has forced the Beijing authorities to
refresh its attitude toweard America’s
“war on terror”.
Beijing has blamed the attack on
militant Uighurs, the Turkic speaking
Muslim minority people who have been
calling for independence for the northwest
region of China’s remote southwestern
Yunan province.
There has even been much popular
gossip across China that the East
Turkestan Islamic Movement (Etim) may
have had a hand in the hijacking of the illfated Flight MH370.
Such is the widespread unease caused
by the savagery at Kunming railway
station by eight knife-wielding assailants
which left 39 dead 140 injured.
But however far-fetched the speculation,
public opinion has hailed the bravery of
those who tackled the attackers and lived
to tell the tale. Their stories have gone viral
on the internet and even brought glowing
coverage in the sections of the Press.
Typical is the story of one man who
was buying a train ticket at the time.
It was around 9pm in the evening and
Railway Station Square was crowded.
“Suddenly, many people started running
around crazily,” recalls Yang Haifei,
wounded in the back and chest, when the
masked attackers rushed into the station.
Tang managed to flee as the attackers
turned their attention to other people,
slashing out indiscriminately.
Police were soon on the seen and a
hero emerged. “Hey, you guys came here
for me,” screamed Zhang Liyuan, deputy
director of the police station.
Eyewitness Chen Yugui, described what
happened next. “He wanted to lead these
criminals to where there are fewer people,
and his strategy worked, ” said Chen.
Five attackers immediately broke off to
confront the police chief. “His left hand
finger was cut off by one of these thugs.”
Zhang’s heroics were widely exported
in the press, and a major China social
website Weibo (equivalent of twitter)
received millions of hits. Police eventually
shot dead four of the attackers and
arrested one at the scene. Two others were
caught after fleeing the scene.
Another heroic action recorded widely
was that of Pan Huabing who was
knifed to the ground trying to protect
his six-year-old daughter. Huabing’s
friend Zuo Ruxing saw it happen.
As the crowd scattered screaming, Pan’s
daughter ran in front of the mob without
realising the coming danger. Suddenly,
one of the knifemen slashed at the little
girl. Pan immediately rushed to protect
his daughter, and the knife caught his
neck instead.
Zuo grabbed the girl away, splashed by
blood from Pan’s neck. “I can’t make it,”
said Pan bleeding profusely from his neck
wound. “I am going to die.”
Zuo immediately called the hospital,
but the telephone line was busy. He finally
got through, but Zhuo was worried.
Though badly in need of treatment, Pan
had no money to pay hospital bills. But
a twitter storm on Weibo begun to drum
up help for the brave father, an innocent
victim of terrorism.
And the hospital also agreed to provide
treatment first, with no further questions
about how it could be paid for.
Another person who was caught up
in the incident was Chen Fang, boss of a
home cooking restaurant on the west side
of Kunming Railway Station. His place
was open as usual when the attackers
struck.
A still shocked Chen said he heard a
loud commotion in the square outside
his diner, when suddenly a rush of
fleeing people burst into the restaurant.
Customers stopped eating and dived into
corners to hide, as Chen Fang shouted to
customers clear away their belongings to
let more people in.
Outside the restaurant, passengers left
their luggage and even kicked off their
shoes to escape.
Chen Fang squeezed ever more people
in and soon, the restaurant, only 80
square metres square, was crammed full
of people, most travellers, with many
standing on tables and even the stove.
The atmosphere was full of fear and
tension and many children and women
were crying, as men looked on, confused
and helpless.
“It was too much, but the restaurant
was no hiding place,” said Chen Fang. And
reluctantly, people were allowed to pull
down the shutter doors.
Chen Fang estimated that at least 200
people crammed into the restaurant, as
the square was swarming with police.
“These thugs are too cruel, even
common people are not spared. I am sorry
that I have limited strength. I believe even
if I was not her