Authorities struggled to contain some of China's worst ethnic violence in decades yesterday as gangs of Han Chinese defied a government crackdown and took to the streets seeking revenge against the Muslim Uighur minority.
The authorities had appeared to have the north-western city of Urumqi under control by yesterday morning, with shops opening and public transport running for the first time since riots on Sunday, in which officials say more than 150 people were killed.
But gangs of Han Chinese armed with sticks and bars started to form in the early afternoon and poured down two main streets towards the Great Bazaar, Urumqi's traditional Uighur trading quarter.