New | Breaking news alerts on Urumqi attack ‘censored’ on Weibo

As China reels from the latest deadly terror attack in the restive western region of Xinjiang, many have complained that breaking news alerts of the bomb-and-knife attack outside a railway station in Urumqi were censored on the mainland’s most popular social media platform on Wednesday night.

Beijing has condemned the attack as an act of terrorism and pointed a finger at Xinjiang separatist forces, hours after the attack at around 7pm on Wednesday evening killed three people and injured 79. 

Two of those killed were suspected assailants who detonated explosive devices they were carrying, and the third victim was an innocent bystander, the official People's Daily said on Thursday. 

An English-language account operated by the official Xinhua news agency, “Xinhua - I report”, was the first to post a news alert on Weibo, formerly known as Sina Weibo until a recent name change, within an hour of the explosion rocking the largest railway station in the capital of Xinjiang.

“A blast hits a railway station in Urumqi, capital of northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region,” the post read.