On the ninth floor of Kunming 's No . 1 People 's Hospital , overflowing patient beds crammed the narrow corridor Sunday afternoon as anxious family members sat by their loved ones . Like many others around him , Dong Wenxian sported a bandage around his head and appeared motionless in bed . `` He 's sleeping -- though his condition is n't stable yet , '' his daughter Dong Huixian told CNN . `` There 's still metal in his skull -- but he 's already the lucky one . '' The elder Dong is one of more than 140 people injured in a deadly attack Saturday night when ten knife-wielding assailants stormed the Kunming Railway Station in southwestern China , seemingly hacking at anyone in sight and killing at least 29 people . The U.S. State Department has condemned the attack , calling it a `` horrific , senseless act of violence '' in a statement . Chinese President Xi Jinping has pledged to `` severely punish the terrorists in accordance with the law . '' Authorities said police shot four perpetrators dead on the scene and captured a wounded female suspect . They have also linked the rampage to separatists from the country 's far western Xinjiang region , where tensions between Han Chinese and the largely Muslim Uyghurs have sometimes turned violent . READ MORE : Understanding China 's restive far west . Dong , a 50-year-old street vendor from the countryside , was trying to buy a train ticket home to visit his sick mother when he was hacked . `` His whole face was covered in blood , '' his wife described the sight greeting the family at the hospital , which has received most of the people injured in the attack . `` We 're now waiting for him to go through surgery , '' said Huixian , the 17-year-old daughter . `` But those with even more severe injuries need to be operated on first . '' `` Those Xinjiang people are just horrible and I hate their guts , '' she added . A spate of violent incidents has rocked restive Xinjiang in recent months . Only two weeks ago , police announced the death of 11 terrorists in a foiled attack in Aksu Prefecture . Last October , a jeep carrying a Uyghur family plowed into crowds in front of Tiananmen Gate in central Beijing , killing two tourists and injuring 40 . Authorities have responded by intensifying their crackdown on suspected Islamic separatists , including the arrest last month of prominent Uyghur scholar Ilham Tohti . The killings in Kunming -- a city of more than six million residents , known for its mild weather and leisurely pace -- shocked the nation and occurred at a particularly sensitive time as Chinese lawmakers are set to start their annual session Wednesday to hear the first government work report under President Xi 's leadership . Far away from Beijing but a short drive from Dong 's hospital is a small , nameless street in front of the massive Kunming Railway Station . Lined with supermarkets , restaurants and a post office , it was again bustling with passengers hauling luggage Sunday afternoon , the blood stains in the area already washed away . Uniformed police , SWAT teams and paramilitary troops patrolling the station 's sprawling ground regularly passed the street on foot and in cars . Food sellers on the sidewalk exchanged details they had seen or heard about the carnage . READ MORE : China 's train station killings described as a terrorist attack . Chang Changwei 's mobile phone shop was open but his mind kept wandering back to the night before when screaming crowds from the station suddenly ran toward his street . `` So many people were trying to find a place to hide , '' the 27-year-old shop owner recalled to CNN . `` The restaurant next to me and I let everyone in . '' `` I asked my wife and mother to bring my son inside , '' he continued . `` Then I grabbed some metal pipes for myself and a few others , and said , we have to stick together to take them down . '' The attackers never came this way , but his mother 's recollection of the scene was more harrowing . `` I saw four people die nearby , '' said 58-year-old Hu Xuerong . `` One person was lying face down in the blood with a knife still stuck in his back . '' GALLERY : Kunming terror attack , in photographs . The most heartbreaking moment for Hu came later , however . Her 3-year-old grandson , after witnessing the horror , told her he was too scared to sleep . Across Chinese cyberspace , stories of the perpetrators not sparing children or the elderly during their killing spree have spread quickly and stirred the strongest emotions . In social media , some users ' attempts to reflect on the root causes -- including waves of Han migration into Xinjiang and the treatment of Uyghurs in their native land -- to the latest terror were quickly drowned out by the overwhelming sound of fury . Chang , the shop owner , admitted he 'd never given much thought to Xinjiang separatists . After the attack Saturday night , however , he 's not sure what can be done to stop them for one simple reason . `` When they started hacking at people , they were already prepared to die , '' he said . `` They are not afraid to die . ''
Families of victims are struggling to make sense of the terror attack in Kunming . At least 29 were killed in the frenzied attack at the city 's railway station . The attackers fled on foot after a shootout with police, but later turned up dead inside their car.