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Aussie tourists' bus hijacked
Thu, Mar 06, 2008 The Straits Times
BEIJING - A HIJACKER armed with explosives took a group of Australian tourists and a translator hostage in China yesterday before police shot and killed him. The 10 Australians and the group's translator were on a bus at the Bell and Drum Tower square, in the north-western city of Xi'an in Shaanxi province, when the man boarded the bus and took them hostage. Shortly after the stand-off started, the hijacker released all but two of the hostages, a 48-year-old woman from New South Wales and the translator, Australian media reported. The hijacker, identified by police as Chinese national Xia Tao, was said to have strapped explosives to himself and threatened to detonate them if the police did not negotiate with him.

Xia took the passengers hostage just before 10am and was shot dead at 12.36pm after negotiations failed, Xinhua reported.

Ms Janaline Oh, spokesman for the Australian Embassy in Beijing, said all the hostages were unharmed.

After their ordeal, the Australians flew to Shanghai, where they were to be met by the Australian consulate-general in the city.

Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith said he was pleased the situation was resolved so quickly.

'Our embassy in Beijing and our consulate-general in Shanghai are providing consular assistance to the Australians affected by this incident,' he said.

Xi'an is one of China's most popular tourist destinations. Its main attraction is the Terracotta Army, a collection of more than 8,000 life-size figures dating back to around 200BC.

Taking hostages, especially foreigners, is rare in China. Last July, police in Shanghai shot dead a knife-wielding Chinese man who had taken a four-year-old girl hostage in a fast-food outlet, state media reported.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE