Police gunned down several rioters who attacked a police station and killed four people in Hotan city of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Monday noon, sources with the Ministry of Public Security said, Xinhua reported.
Rioters broke into the police station shortly after 12 p.m.. They assaulted the police, took hostages and set fire to the station, according to the ministry.
A member of the armed police, a security personnel and two hostages were killed during the ordeal, the ministry said, adding that another security personnel was severely injured.
The police quickly converged on the scene and shot a number of rioters while freeing six hostages, the ministry said. The injured are currently hospitalized.
The national counter-terrorism office of China has dispatched a working team to Xinjiang.