China's trying to suppress information about a massacre that killed 50 people, say reports

China's trying to suppress information about a massacre that killed 50 people, say reports

FP Staff October 20, 2015, 22:19:56 IST

Alleged separatists carrying knives entered a coal mine in northwestern China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and killed at least 50 people.

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China's trying to suppress information about a massacre that killed 50 people, say reports

A horrific tragedy struck China on 18 September.

On that day, alleged separatists carrying knives entered a coal mine in northwestern China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and killed at least 50 people, including five police officers, and injured 50 others, Radio Free Asia had reported.

Representational image. AFP

“Some workers were sleeping while others were preparing to work when the attackers raided the building after killing the security guards,” Ekber Hashim, a police officer inspecting the mine’s dormitory after the incident, had told RFA. He had also said that “nearly all the workers who were not on shift at the time were killed or injured.”

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However, what is even more disturbing is that China seems to be trying its best to keep this entire incident a secret and suppress any information about the same from being made public.

“The damage of the attack was very severe — that is why we are controlling [the flow of> information about the incident so strictly, lest we frighten Han migrants in Aksu,” a source told RFA on condition of anonymity.

Around 90 percent of the workers in the coal mine which was attacked were Han Chinese. And according to another report in The New York Times , the wanted posters released after the incident suggest that the attackers were ethnic Uyghurs. Moreover, the attack had taken place during the day of national celebrations in China to mark the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

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To avoid the spread of news of this attack which seems to be communal, the Chinese news media allegedly did not report on the massacre. The NYTimes report added that local officials have even denied that the incident took place.

The Guardian also reported on the reluctance of Chinese officials to talk about the incident. “Reuters was unable to reach officials for comment. Such incidents are frequently reported in overseas media but not confirmed by the Chinese government until days later, if ever,” the report said.

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