Two Vietnamese border guards and five Chinese nationals were killed in a shooting incident at a border gate in the northern province of Quang Ninh on April 18, and a local official affirmed this is not a terror case but a spontaneous act by the Chinese illegal immigrants.

A number of others, including four Vietnamese border guards, were also wounded, the official added.

The immigrants, including 10 men, four women and two children, were detained early on the day when they were trying to illegally penetrate deep into Vietnam through Bac Phong Sinh border gate in Hai Ha district in the early morning. Later, they were taken back to the border gate.

At noon, when procedures were being completed for handing them over to Chinese authorities in line with regulations and international common practice, some of the Chinese men snatched a gun from an officer and started to fire, killing a Vietnamese border guard on the spot. This forced the Vietnamese border guards to take legitimate self-defence measures.

Turning a deaf ear to the persuasion efforts by Vietnamese and Chinese authorities who called on them to lay down the gun and surrender, the group holed up and tried to destroy the office of the Vietnamese border guards, prompting law enforcement authorities to take professional measures to approach and arrest them.

However, they resisted the border guards and, at the same time, wounded themselves. Some jumped off the building and committed suicide.

Quang Ninh authorities immediately acted to restore order and security in the area, and joined hands with Chinese authorities to solve the consequences.

At 3:15pm, the situation was put under control. Local authorities are actively coordinating with the Chinese side to deal with the incident in line with the two countries’ laws and international common practice.-VNA