140 killed in China riots

Chinese state media said 140 people were killed and more than 800 hurt in violence in the country’s western Xinjiang region.

The official Xinhua News Agency did not immediately give any other details today on the number of deaths, but said the death toll “was still climbing”.

It earlier reported that four people had been killed in violence after protesters from the Uighur Muslim ethnic group rioted yesterday in the region’s capital Urumqi, overturning barricades, attacking bystanders and clashing with police.

The protesters were demanding an investigation into a fight between Uighurs and Han Chinese workers at a southern China factory last month that state media said left two people dead.