7 dead after 16 Chinese nationals attempt to illegally cross northern Viet Nam border

.
4/18/14, "Illegal Chinese immigrant shoots dead self, 2 Vietnam border soldiers, 4 compatriots," Tuoitrenews.vn (Viet Nam)

"A Chinese national Friday opened fire and killed two Vietnamese border soldiers, four of his countrymen and himself with a gun he grabbed from a local border gate security officer, who was trying to stop more than a dozen of illegal immigrants from entering the Southeast Asian country via the northern border.

“Seven people were killed in the shooting, including two Vietnamese border soldiers and five Chinese nationals,” Nguyen Van Doc, chairman of the northern Vietnamese province of Quang Ninh, where the incident took place, said in a statement at 4:00 pm.

A group of 16 Chinese nationals were attempting to illegally cross the border near the Bac Phong Sinh border gate in Quang Ninh when they were detected by authorities at 4:20 am the same day, the provincial People’s Committee said in an official announcement.

There are four women and two children among the illegal immigrants.

Officers then asked these foreigners to go to a station at the border gate to complete procedures to repatriate them to China.

At 12:00 pm, while the officers were working with them, one of the Chinese rushed to a border gate security guard and snatched his gun.

The Chinese man opened fire and killed one border soldier. 

The Chinese nationals then dashed to sabotage the border gate station. When besieged by Vietnamese officers, some of them hurt themselves while others attempted to commit suicide by jumping from one of the upper floors of the station.

The Chinese shooter then fired at the crowd, killing another Vietnamese border soldier and four of his countrymen before taking his own life with a shot in the head.

Some were injured during the shooting, including four Vietnamese border soldiers.

The Bac Phong Sinh border defense post has conducted formalities to deport some of the illegal immigrants back to China, while those involved have been detained for investigation.

Doc, the Quang Ninh chairman, confirmed to Tuoi Tre that the firing was not a terrorist attack as some local websites have reported.

Provincial authorities are working with their Chinese counterparts to settle the issue in accordance with Vietnamese and Chinese laws, as well as international practice, Doc said.

The chairman added that the security situation at the border gate has returned to normal."


===========================

4/18/14, "7 killed in Vietnam border shooting," BangkokPost.com, Hanoi

"The Vietnamese government says seven people have been killed in a shootout between Chinese migrants and Vietnamese border guards at a crossing in the north of the country.

The government in the province of Quang Ninh says Vietnamese authorities early Friday detained a group of 16 Chinese including 10 men, four women and two children after they illegally entered the country.

It says they were being taken to the border to be returned to China when one of them seized a gun from a guard, killing one of them.

Vietnamese guards responded and an ensuing standoff and firefight left one other guard and five Chinese dead.

The government didn't say whether the Chinese dead included children and women."





.