1 killed, 12 injured as man attacks Beijing mall with knife

One person has been killed and 12 people have been injured in an attack by a knife-wielding man in a busy shopping mall in the Chinese capital.

The person killed in the Sunday attack at Joy City, a mall in Beijing's Xidan district, was a woman who succumbed to her injuries in hospital, Beijing’s Public Security Bureau said in a brief statement on its official microblog page. It added that injuries suffered by 12 other victims were not life-threatening.

Police said the 35-year-old male attacker had personal grievance. Authorities identified him only by his surname, Zhu, saying he carried out the attack to “vent his personal discontent.”

Various videos were circulating on Chinese social media sites showing vague details about the attack which targeted a restaurant on the sixth story of the shopping mall. One showed a security guard rushing to help a man dripping blood on the floor outside the restaurant. Others showed a large number of uniformed police in the mall and medical staffs carrying injured people on gurneys. A surveillance video of a restaurant also showed people scrambling to get away while flipping tables and pushing chairs at the attacker who was engaging with a man seated at a table.

China maintains a strict code on use and possession of firearms and authorities mostly blame attacks by knives and homemade explosives on people who are mentally ill or bear social grudges. A pick in such attacks took place in 2010 when nearly 20 children were killed at schools. That prompted officials to order beefed-up security in many schools and education facilities.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk