(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-03-05 16:43

XI'AN - Chinese police shot and killed a hijacker after the man refused to release two hostages in the Northwest Shaanxi Province on Wednesday, the local authority said.

Xia Tao, a resident of Xi'an City's Yanliang District, hijacked a bus and took a foreign tourist and a translator as hostage in the downtown Zhonggulou Square at 9:52 am. Armed with explosives, he called for negotiations with police.

The police accepted Xia's demand to change buses and to go to the airport to avoid violence in the downtown core.

The police shot Xia when the bus approached the airport toll station at 12:36 pm after unsuccessful negotiating, according to the local public security bureau.

The hostages were unharmed.