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

Detained by border guards for attempting to enter the country illegally, members of the group of Chinese immigrants had grabbed the rifles of the guards, leading to the confrontation at the Bac Phong Sinh border gate in Quang Ninh Province.

Earlier, the guards, after discovering the 16 Chinese, including 10 men, 4 women and 2 children, had asked the people to enter the border-gate station to be processed for their handover to China. While waiting for the procedures to be completed, a few of the men took the rifles of the security guards and began firing.

Lt. Gen. Vu Chi Thuc, Director of Quang Ninh Province Police Agency, immediately arrived at the scene. According to Thuc, the Chinese took advantage of the Vietnamese soldiers’ lack of vigilance to steal the rifles. They then held their ground at the station, damaging the furnishings. When security forces tightened the siege, some of the Chinese are believed to have committed suicide.

Tien Phong Newspaper reported that two Vietnamese officers had been held hostage in the station by the Chinese. Hundreds of Vietnamese policemen and border guards arrived to tighten the cordon, continually pleading for those inside 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.

VNN/TP