BESIEGED CHINESE CITY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19453, 8 October 1926, Page 11

BESIEGED CHINESE CITY.

AWFUL PLIGHT OF PEOPLE.

THOUSANDS ALREADY DEAD. SMALL PROPORTION SET FREE. OTHERS FIGHT" TO ESCAPE. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. A. and N.Z. PEKING. Oct. 6. Thousands of people have died of starvation, disease or wounds in the besieged city of Wuchang. The Red forces having kept the inhabitants within the walls for 36 days, they allowed the gates to be opened to-day to permit 2000 civilians to leave for Hankow.

By agreement, between the contending parties all firing ceased for a brief period.

There was a mad stampede at the gates. Frenzied men, women and children fought for escape. Numbers of women and children were trodden underfoot and trampled to death.

An eye-witness reports that thousands of people who were unable to leave the city fought madly, but were forced back from the gates at the points of bayonets. Bandits Again on the March.

Refugees from Wuchang are in wretched condition. They tell of a pitiful state of affairs within the heleagured city. Dead and dying people are to be seen in all directions, and they say that unless the siege is lifted speedily the whole population will perish except the soldiers. The latter are reported to be on the point of mutiny. The bandits who recently looted Chow-kai-kow looted the cities of Tung-su and Chen-liu. Half the bandits aftei-wards proceeded to Ki-hsien and the other half to Taikang, near Kaifeng, the capital of the Honan Province. They are reported to be 5000 strong and to be armed with rifles, machine-guns and small cannon. The gates of Kaifeng swarm with refugees, who flee through the night from the afflicted districts. The captives who have been taken by the bandits include a British missionary named Riding. Many hundreds of people were killed or wounded. Trouble at Trading Station. Chung-king, the, farthest np-river trading station and the headquarters of the anti-foreign campaign and Red Lamp Society, has again been tho scene of trouble. Two British gunboats have been despatched to protect the few remaining foreign merchants in the town. Several attempts were made on the lives of the.' employees of British people.

A monster anti-British demonstration was held at Hankow yesterday. Attempts t$ enter the foreign concessions were prevented by British marines, who experienced difficulty. There was no bloodshed, -but much hostility was displayed. The civil war situation is virtually unchanged. The Reds are closing on Kiukiang, the nearest important river port to Shanghai, and about 350 miles to the west of the latter. This indicates a repulse of the anti-Red forces.