Bomb-shocked Xinjiang county resumes normal life

(Xinhu)
Updated: 2008-08-12 09:32

KUQA, Xinjiang -- Shops opened. Taxis ran on streets. The bomb-shocked county in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region resumed normal life on Monday.

On Monday afternoon, a new batch of passengers arrived in Kuqa County by train.

"Where to? Please get on my car," a Uygur taxi driver said to a passenger at the Kuqa railway station.

"Business is Ok and as usual," said a Uygur fruits peddler.

A string of explosions occurred in the early hours of Sunday in some supermarkets, hotels and government buildings in Kuqa, killing a security guard and injuring two police, two civilians and a security guard.

Eight terrorists were shot dead by police while two others died by blowing themselves up.

Police arrested two other terrorists and are searching for other three. In addition, 13 civilians were rescued and dozens of unexploded bomb devices were seized.

A Uygur man who was injured by bombs in Kuqa on Sunday died in hospital on Monday, said Hasimu, the Aksu Prefectural Commissioner, at a press conference here on Monday

Kuqa is 750 kilometers southwest of the regional capital Urumqi. It has a population of 450,000, of which 80 percent are ethnic minority groups such as Uygur and Hui. The county is one of the most developed areas in Xinjiang.

Some 40 journalists from home and abroad visited some of the attacked areas on Monday.

Forty-year-old Yang Haiping was not as lucky as her shopping mall - "Sanying Shoe City"- was seriously damaged in the bombings.

"My parents came here in the 1950s to 1960s," she said. "I was born and grew up here and has been living a safe life. It is the first time for me to come across such a terrorist act."

Yang estimated her economic losses reached about 1.7 million yuan ($240,000).

"I still haven't figured out how to restart the business," said Yang. "But I believe the government will help us."