A series of bombs in Xinjiang last weekend killed many more people than first reported. Initially, official news accounts reported that two people were killed when three bombs went off in Luntai County on Sunday. Xinhua is now reporting that more than 40 people were killed in the violence, which was sparked during a riot. Dan Levin at the New York Times reports:
On Monday, the Xinjiang government’s Tianshan website said two people had been killed and referred to the episodes as “explosions.”
Witnesses told Radio Free Asia that crowds of ethnic Uighurs in the town of Yengisar, angry over forced mass evictions to make way for Han Chinese migrants, had raided government offices and a police station. The police station was later bombed by the Uighur attackers, the report said.
A man who picked up the phone at the Luntai County morgue on Thursday confirmed the higher death toll. “On Monday, there were over 30 family members coming to collect the corpses,” said the man, who refused to give his name and did not specify the number of bodies.
Posting to her Sina Weibo microblog, a local student wrote on Monday: “Now, no matter what hospital you go to in Luntai you see the people injured from yesterday’s blast.” [Source]
Journalists are generally barred from reporting from scenes of violence in Xinjiang, making it difficult to confirm official reports. Conflicting accounts of a violent attack in Shache, Xinjiang in July have also come to light. Read more about recent incidents of violence in Xinjiang, via CDT.
