Three men brandishing knives killed at least two people and injured a dozen more in an apparently indiscriminate attack last night in a street a few hundred metres from Beijing's Tiananmen Square.
Two of the attackers escaped, but onlookers caught the third before police reached the scene.
The incident came hours before the highly sensitive final rehearsal for the October 1 celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic, for which security will be extremely tight. Tens of thousands of police and paramilitary police have been drafted into the centre of the capital ahead of the celebrations.
Today also sees the end of a meeting in Beijing of the Communist Party's Central Committee at which top state and military leaders are present.
Witnesses to the attack just before 7pm said the three men rampaged down a side street in the Dashilan shopping area at Qianmen, southwest of Tiananmen Square - famous for housing some of the city's oldest shops. Wielding long knives, they began their attack outside the two busiest stores, stabbing and slashing shoppers and pedestrians, shop owners and a passer-by said. The men turned into another street and continued their attack.
When onlookers understood what was happening, they began throwing bricks and lengths of wood at the men, and caught one, witnesses said, although Xinhua reported that patrolling police had captured him. Xinhua named the captive as Zhang Jianfei, 46, from the northeastern city of Jilin .
Officers at the Dashilan police station refused to comment.