A Russian tourist badly injured by a knife mugger in downtown Beijing was out of danger in hospital on Friday, said a hospital spokesman.

Stepanenko Victor, who is in Peking Union Medical College Hospital, had been in a serious condition with four stab wounds in the arm and abdomen, after a knife-wielding mugger attacked him inside a restaurant near Beijing Railway Station on Wednesday afternoon.

The mugger grabbed a bag, with a laptop and a wallet inside, and ran away.

Victor was the second victim of the knifeman in the day. More than an hour before the attack, a U.S. citizen was also attacked by the knifeman and slightly wounded in the buttock in a car park three km north of the restaurant.

The knifeman failed to rob the American, who called for help.

The American was sent to the hospital at 12:40 p.m. and left in the evening after receiving medical treatment. Victor was rushed to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the hospital one and a half hours later.

A group of doctors including the hospital's president conducted operations on Victor within one hour of his arrival.

Beijing police have video of the suspect. They were offering an as-yet unspecified reward for leads.

(Xinhua News Agency October 31, 2008)