Hometown officials show concern to families of murdered Chinese engineers

Officials at the hometown of the three Chinese engineers who were killed Wednesday in Pakistan visited their families Thursday, promising to help the families deal well with the aftermath of the incident.

The city governments of Xuzhou, Shangrao and Hefei, where the victims, Zhao Bin, Wei Jianpin and Long Hongbao worked, respectively, have all formed work teams to deal with the incident and have sent medical workers to take care of the victims' families .

In addition, the governments have sent officials to Pakistan with Chinese diplomats to help take the bodies of the victims back to China.

The three Chinese engineers and their Pakistani driver were killed on Wednesday when their car was attacked by gunmen on a road in the town of Hub, some 700 km southeast of Quetta, the Balochistan provincial capital. Three other Chinese also in the car survived without injury.

The engineers were working for a Chinese company to prepare equipment and offer technical services for the construction of a local cement factory which will be built in the first half of this year.

On hearing the sad news, the families of the three engineers sank into deep grief.

"It's unbelievable. Our whole family just hopes the murderers can be caught as soon as possible," said Yao Shaowen, the brother-in-law of Long Hongbao, who rushed to Hefei, capital of east China's Anhui Province, from Shanghai.

The Chinese government showed great concern about the incident. President Hu Jintao has ordered the Chinese Foreign Ministry, embassy and consulates to require Pakistan to capture the murderers, ensure the safety of the Chinese there and properly handle the aftermath.

Hu also extended condolences on the death of the victims and expressed sympathy to their families.

The Pakistani government is making utmost efforts to capture the murderers and take every measure possible to ensure the safety of Chinese people there and properly deal with the event.

The Pakistani government also extended its heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and issued a statement of condemnation on the killings in Islamabad.

Source: Xinhua