A relative of the US men's volleyball coach has been killed and another family member seriously injured in an attack in Beijing, the US Olympic Committee has said in a statement. The man killed was a US citizen and the injured victim was an American woman, Beijing police said in a statement.
The two family members were stabbed during the attack by what local law enforcement authorities have indicated was a lone assailant, the statement said.
The man attacked the two Americans as well as their Chinese guide at the historic Drum Tower monument, a popular tourist site, at 12:20 pm (local time), the official Xinhua news agency has reported.
After the attack, the assailant then committed suicide by jumping off the second story of the monument.
A Beijing police spokesman has confirmed the tourist had been killed and the other two had been injured, but gave no further details.
Xinhua identified the attacker as Tang Yongming, a 47-year-old man from the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou.
The attack occurred despite China deploying massive security in Beijing for the Olympics, with more than 150,000 police and other personnel on patrol across the city.
An estimated 450,000 foreigners are expected to come to Beijing for the Olympics, which opened on Friday night and will finish on August 24.
The killing also occurred as US President George W Bush was in the city to attend the Games.
A US embassy spokesman, Richard Buangan, said he was aware of the report but could give no details.
"I can tell you that we are working with the family and the Chinese authorities while we speak," Mr Buangan said, declining to comment further.
The Drum Tower is in the historic heart of Beijing. Together with the Bell Tower, the sites were once used for banging of drums and bells to tell time.
Now the Drum and Bell towers are tourist sites, with visitors able to stroll from them to the city's famed old lakes and other historic areas.
Police closed off the Drum Tower following the incident.
No comments:
Post a Comment