Fewer people attended Friday prayers in Urumqi mosques in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region amid hypodermic needle attacks scare and protests demanding security guarantees, said a local official.

At 4 p.m., about 52,000 people had visited mosques on the week's main day of worship for Muslims, the official said.

On Friday 381 mosques opened while 51 were closed because of traffic controls or repair work.

The situation in the mosques had been stable, the official said.

Urumqi residents took to streets demanding severe punishment of mobsters and guarantees of peace and tranquility after hypodermic syringe attacks caused panic in the city in recent days.

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

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

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

(Xinhua News Agency September 4, 2009)