Six injured in knife attack in S China railway station

Policemen inspect the scene after a knife attack happened at a railway station in Guangzhou city, south Chinas Guangdong province, 6 May 2014.[Photo/icpress.cn]

GUANGZHOU - Six people were injured in a knife attack at a railway station in the southern Chinese metropolis of Guangzhou on Tuesday morning, local authorities said.

The attack happened at about 11:30 am in the square of Guangzhou Railway Station, according to police.

Several workers were cleaning blood on the ground at about 1 pm at a cordoned-off area in the center of the square, said a Xinhua reporter at the scene.

A witness surnamed Chen told Xinhua that he saw three men wielding long knives and slashing people.

Chen said two victims were injured on the back, one was hit on the arm and another one had a large amount of blood flowing from a cut on the neck.

Another witness surnamed He from Jiangxi Province saw a policeman fire at a suspect who was waving a long knife. The suspect is in his 30s to 40s, he said.

The suspect is receiving treatment at a local hospital and his identity has yet to be confirmed. Police are still chasing the suspect's accomplices.

Four of the injured, three women and a man, are receiving treatment at the General Hospital of Guangzhou Military Command of the People's Liberation Army. Their injuries are not life-threatening.

The attack did not affect railway operations, according to Guangzhou Railway (Group) Corporation.

The incident is the latest attack at a crowded train station in the country within the past 70 days.

Three people were confirmed dead and 79 others were injured in a terrorist attack at a railway station in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, on April 30.

On March 1, knife-wielding assailants killed 29 civilians and injured another 143 at a railway station in the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming.