An enraged tour guide has been charged with stabbing 20 people
in a tourist town in southwest China's Yunnan Province on Sunday, injuring two of
them seriously, police confirmed on Monday.
Xu Mingchao, 25, was arrested at approximately 4:30 PM in the
ancient city of Lijiang. He has been accused by the police of
stabbing 15 tourists and five locals.
Two boys were seriously injured, including a seven-year-old
local and a 15-year-old tourist from eastern Anhui Province.
The older boy, who suffered brain injuries, remains in critical
condition, sources with the People's Hospital in Lijiang said on
Monday.
They said the seven-year-old is in stable condition after
doctors stitched up the wound to an artery on his neck.
Police said Xu, a native from Heilongjiang Province in northeast China, was
accompanying a 40-member tour group from the northeastern Jilin Province to Lijiang when he got into an
argument with a local guide surnamed Peng on Sunday afternoon.
After Peng left, Xu suddenly lost control and pulled a knife
from a saleswoman at a roadside souvenir shop. He then chased
several people in the street stabbing and slashing them.
The Lijiang government said they have sent for the best doctors
from the provincial capital Kunming to treat the injured
people.
Police are investigating whether Xu has a history of mental
illness.
(Xinhua News Agency April 3, 2007)