Hospitals in Urumqi are treating 531 victims of hypodermic needle attacks, the local police authorities said Friday.

Statistics from the city's 24 hospitals say 106 of the 531 were showing obvious signs of needle attacks.

The victims include members of ethnic groups such as Han, Uygur and Kazakstan.

The regional health department had previously registered 476 victims of the attacks by Wednesday, of whom 89 showed obvious signs of needle injuries.

(Xinhua News Agency September 4, 2009)