Todays Headline from New BLCTV News. Full stories available on www.newblctvnews.bl (Articles also available in English, Dannistrian and Dovakhanese)
BREAKING NEWS: 67 people killed in a shooting spree at a Bai Lungese cruise liner. Gunman drowns self.
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A national day of mourning is being held tomorrow after a 28 year old man went on a shooting rampage killing 67 people and injuring 35 others on a cruise liner, which was heading out on a round the world trip this christmas. The gunman, reportedly identified as Yang Chi Dan, drowned himself by jumping off the ship where his body was later recovered by police. The shooting took place at Port Sung, the international trading capital of the country. Officials have now set up a crisis centre to help those affect by the tragedy.
Around 3 hours earlier, the police and fire brigade responded to an emergency call after someone reported that black smoke was seen emerging from the 5th floor of a high rise apartment in Pyongjing. The fire was extinguished 2 hours later. Initially, the apartment had no connection with yesterday’s shooting spree until police and several witnesses confirmed the resident of that apartment as Mr Yang. Forensics team concluded that Mr Yang was the sole culprit who burned down, there was further evidence to back up those claims when a half used fuel container dumped in the middle of a road.
Unlike most spree killings where the perpetrator has left messages explaining their motivation behind the attack, the NBLPF have found no visible clues which may explain the person’s motivation behind the attack. However, they did rule the total purge of any clues which Mr Yang may have collated in the past. Chief Constable Lu Bian explains that virtually all spree killers leave some clue behind, cryptic or not.
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"It is possible that this man may have left some sort of reason behind his attack, whether it be a picture or a drawing. No killer I know leave no clue behind, they could write their woes on their wall, some even record a tape of themselves and bury it in their back yard. The clues remain critical to this case and the sooner we find clues, the sooner which we can determine the individual’s motivation for his shooting spree…
-Chief Constable Lu Bian
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Police said the 28 year old ex-soldier attempted to board the S.S. Im at around 1000 but he was blocked by 2 crewmen. Undeterred, Mr Yang shot them both and it was from there he started his 1 hour shooting spree where he took the lives of 52 civilians, 12 crewmen including the captain of the ship and 3 policemen. Mr Yang was armed with 2 AK-47’s, each equipped with 100 round magazines; 6 Stechkin APS; a SPAS-12 and a hunting knife. Mr Yang had no criminal record prior to the shooting and “was raised in a middle class family were his siblings enjoyed a prosperous life”, Chief Constable Lu Bian said.
The police responded to an emergency call made at 1011 and made contact with the gunman when they arrived at the harbour 15 minutes later. According to Sergeant Liu, Mr Yang may have used home made pipe bombs to kill two police officers.
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"We tried to negotiate with Mr Yang by asking him to drop down his guns and surrender. Then, out of the blue, a burning metallic object landed followed by this sharp, ear piercing explosion then I immediately knew the predicament of 2 of my colleagues, who were fairly close to me. The thud of that object was followed by a sharp, ear piercing bang and I was blown away by a couple of yards. I saw bits of my colleagues flew right pass me. If that wasn’t bad enough, that was followed by a series of of fire, killing another of my men. The man is quite knowledgeable when it comes to making home made explosives and he is a dead eye shot too. I suspect that these were improvised pipe bombs which Yang was using against us.
-Sergeant Liu Bao Cheng
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As police surrounded the ship, passengers were rescued by police boats from other side of the exits not defended by Mr Yang. A passenger give his account on yesterday’s shooting.
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“Suddenly, people began rambling around and shot were heard began pouring down. I saw bloody bodies lying in the corridors and rooms. Dead and possible dying. We all started to run in fear and we screamed. We were trying to make a break for our lives when this psychotic man sprayed bullets in all different directions.”
-Bae Ziyi Ae
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The standoff came to an end when Mr Yang jumped into the water drowning himself. His body was later recovered when the cruise liner was searched thoroughly for any possible dangers such as any rigged explosives or traps. Despite leaving no clues at his apartment, a block of C-4 was found on Mr Yang’s body as well as 3 photographs; one containing a photo of the S.S. Im, another containing a mushroom cloud explosion and a satellite photo of 1 Infinite Loop. Police indicate that the clues will help with their investigation.
Announcing a nation day of mourning on Wednesday, acting interim admin Li An Ying described today’s massacre as an “unforgivable and terrible tragedy”.
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“This is a dreadful day in Bai Lung. The tragedy came shortly after I delivered my Christmas message offering optimism to all citizens of Bai Lung and then this rampage followed shortly. Today’s incident has deeply undermined the sense of security in society…no one had expected such an unredeemable act…I send my heart-felt condolences to the families of the victims in the incident. The least I could do right now is to set up a crisis centre to aid those affected by today’s tragedy…”
-Li An Ying
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If asked if he will stay in office for a little longer, he replied: “No, I must leave as head of state and pass on this work to another equally person no matter how desperate a crisis. My work is almost complete and staying longer could retroactively damage the democratisation of Bai Lung.” The comment was met with criticism by some, notably Dannistrian General Duh’rahn N’outah.
Following yesterday’s shooting, there has been questioning about the lack of security in the country and why the police acted so slowly in extreme situations like the spree shooting. More importantly, how did Mr Yang obtain so many guns.
Macabre Express play to be shown in Pyongjing theatre despite protests.
The theatrical adaptation of a hugely controversial novel is to be shown at the Pyongjing theatre in the capital despite large scale protests from the public as well as some high ranking politicians including interim admin candidate Ling Wei. The musical play, titled Macabre Express, based on the 1977 novel of the same name, has been a highly controversial adaptation because of it’s seemingly light hearted look at the Japanese invasion of Bai Lung in 1937 and for it’s sympathetic look on the Japanese characters.
The novel has been written by Annette Chu-Suzuki-Oo’lon, an overseas Bai Lungese of Japanese (Nekomimi) and Dannistrian descent currently living in Nordu Dannistra City in Dannistaan. In a latest interview with the 62 year old, she wrote the book in response to the “rabid bigotry” within Bai Lungese and Japanese society. The inception of her novel was not an easy one to do as she spent over 6 years trying to interview various Bai Lungese survivors of the Rape of Bai Lung but most either turned her down or failed to give a concise account of the invasion 70 years ago. Despite these set backs coupled with an ultimatum from her family threatening to disown her, Ms Oo’lon managed to spend 3 meticulous years writing the novel and it was eventually published on December 1977.
Despite the overwhelming backlash from the public, the musical adaptation is not without it’s supporters most notably rival Interim Admin Candidate Chiba Seto, who downplayed all of the negative responses, calling the critics "hypocritical, juvenile and unfit for the purpose of analysing an fun frolic play ". Mr Seto called the protesters a spiteful, undemocratic minority.
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“This is the kind of trojan horse you are welcoming in this country in the name of freedom of expression. I respect the rights of the director and that of the novelist as it is their right to make any play of this ilk even if it is provocative. Why shuld they create it? Like with all of us, they are exercising their freedom of expression and they should be able to create such material without fear from those so called minority named as protesters who serve no purpose other than to extirpate their right [to adapt Macabre Express] and promote violence which in itself intimidates their victims.”
-Chiba Seto
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Macabre Express will be shown from 27th December to 27th January at the Pyongjing theatre.
