Man stabs two to death, injures 12 in central Beijing (Roundup)

Sep 17, 2009, 15:58 GMT

Beijing - A man armed with a knife stabbed two people to death and injured 12 others in a busy shopping street in central Beijing on Thursday evening, state media reported.

Police arrested the man after his rampage on the famous Dashilan shopping street, near the city's ancient Qianmen gate, at around 6:50 pm (1050 GMT), the government's Xinhua news agency quoted city officials as saying.

Fourteen people were injured in the attack, including two security guards who died in hospital after emergency treatment failed to save them.

Police on patrol nearby captured the attacker, who was named as Zhang Jianfei, 46, from the north-eastern city of Jilin, the agency said.

Following the attack, police said they planned to strengthen security in key areas of central Beijing to 'ensure the safety of local residents and tourists', it said.

The attack occurred amid already high security ahead of celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China on October 1.

Dashilan is about one kilometre south of Beijing's Tiananmen Square, the symbolic heart of the city.

Preparations are underway in the heavily guarded square for a final rehearsal from late Friday of military and civilian parades for the 60th anniversary.

Armed attacks are relatively rare on Beijing's streets, which are monitored by hundreds of thousands of security guards, volunteers, and uniformed and plain clothes police.

During last year's Olympic Games in Beijing, an unemployed man stabbed to death a US tourist at Beijing's ancient Drum Tower and then jumped to his death from the tower.