Police tape can be seen in front of a roadblock outside the Westfield Bondi Junction shopping mall in Sydney on April 14, 2024, the day after a 40-year-old knifeman with mental illness roamed the packed shopping center killing six people and seriously wounding a dozen others. Photo: VCG

One Chinese student is dead and another one has been seriously injured in a stabbing incident at a Sydney shopping center in Australia on Saturday, the Chinese Embassy in Australia and the Chinese Consulate-General in Sydney confirmed to China Media Group on Sunday.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said during the regular press conference on Monday that the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has instructed the embassy and consulate in Australia to activate the emergency consular protection mechanism, and confirmed the casualties of Chinese nationals. 

The embassy and consulates in Australia have urged the Australian side to make every effort to treat the injured, actively providing full assistance for follow-up matters. They will also continue to maintain close communication with the Australian side and do their utmost to provide necessary assistance to the families of the Chinese victims, according to the Chinese Embassy in Australia on Monday.

According to the Associated Press, a man used a knife to stab six people to death at Westfield Shopping Center at Bondi Junction, one of the busiest shopping centers in Sydney on Saturday, and injured at least a dozen others during the attack before a police officer shot him dead.

A Chinese national who was at the scene of the incident with her boyfriend told the Red Star News that they watched the crowd running around and felt confused at first, and then they hid in the nearest store as staff put a lock on the door after they received a warning from fleeing individuals. 

They heard a series of consecutive gunshots when they were hiding, after which they realized that the sounds were of a police killing the attacker.

They later moved from the store to a warehouse at the back of the mall, unaware of what was going on outside, and were surrounded by people hiding in the warehouse, as the alarm blared throughout the mall. 

After waiting for a period of time,  a mall employee asked everyone to escape to the nearest exit as soon as possible. The whole mall was surrounded by police cars, ambulances and helicopters when they emerged.

Police from New South Wales (NSW) confirmed Sunday that the attacker,  40-year-old Joel Cauchi, had a history of mental illness, and investigators were not treating it as a terrorism-related incident, according to reports. 

The attacker also wounded a 9-month-old baby and other seven people, and a total of five women and one man were killed, NSW officials said during a press conference.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced on Monday via social media platform X that Australian flags are flying half-mast in honor of the victims of the Bondi Junction attack, saying that "we grieve together, as one." He also updated Cabinet on Monday morning on the situation following this devastating attack.

Albanese and the public also lay flowers outside the shopping center after the incident on Sunday. NSW Premier Chris Minns praised ordinary people who cornered and confronted the murderers at the scene for showing "bravery under terrible circumstances" on Sunday.

Global Times