Friday, March 7, 2008

Chinese Hijacker Shot, Killed After Taking Australians Hostage

Source Article HERE.

From 'VOA News':

Chinese police shot and killed a bus hijacker in northwest China on Tuesday, after he took a group of Australian tourists hostage. A spokeswoman for the Australian Embassy in Beijing says all of the hostages escaped unharmed. Armed with explosives, the man seized 10 Australian tourists and a local translator. Nine of the tourists were later released, but a 48-year old Australian woman and the Chinese translator remained with the hostage-taker until police agreed to his demand for another vehicle. China's official Xinhua news agency says police shot and killed the hostage-taker, Xia Tao, after negotiations failed and he had driven off in the second vehicle. Police say the man was a worker in Xian, but have yet to give a reason for his actions. The standoff with police lasted about two hours and took place in the center of Xian city in China's Shanxi province. Xian is a popular tourist stop in China and near the site of the famed terra-cotta army where thousands of life-sized figures of warriors and horses are preserved in a tomb with China's first emperor.

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