The state news agency Xinhua provided few details about the attack Saturday evening at the Kunming railway station in Yunnan province.

Xinhua cited authorities in reporting the "organized, premeditated violent terrorist attack." According to Xinhua, the "unidentified knife-wielding people" were clad in black.

The local television station K6 reported that police shot several of the attackers and transported victims to local hospitals.

Photos posted online showed scattered luggage and bodies lying on the floor in blood.

mkg/dr (AFP, AP, Reuters)