Chinese rob rifles, shooting at Quang Ninh’s border gate

The four Chinese women at the Bac Phong Sinh Border Gate.

12pm today, April 18, security forces at the Bac Phong Sinh Border Gate discovered 16 Chinese people, including 10 men, 4 women and 2 children trying to illegally cross the Vietnam-China border in Quang Duc commune, Hai Ha district, Quang Ninh province.Vietnamese security guards asked these people to enter the border-gate station to fulfill procedures for the handover to China. While waiting for performing the procedures, a few men took the rifles of security guards and fired.Lt. Gen. Vu Chi Thuc, Director of Quang Ninh Province Police Agency was immediately at the scene to handle the incident. 

According to Thuc, the Chinese men took advantage of the Vietnamese soldiers’ lack of vigilance to rob rifles. They held their ground at the station and damaged the furniture. When the border guards tightened the siege, some people are believed to have committed suicide.Tien Phong Newspaper reported that two Vietnamese officers may be held in the station. Hundreds of Vietnamese policemen and border guards tightened the blockade and kept asking these people to surrender.According to official information from the Quang Ninh authorities at around 4.30pm, seven people died, including two Vietnamese border guards and some people were injured, including four Vietnamese soldiers. The relevant bodies coordinated with the Chinese Border Guards to handle the incident.