A suspect in his thirties robbed and knifed a taxi driver to death before fleeing in the victim's taxi, running over nine pedestrians in the process, on Sunday in Wangfujing, Beijing's busiest shopping district.

The suspect, Ai Xuhuan from Xinyang in central China's Henan Province, was immediately arrested, the Beijing News quoted sources with the local police as saying.

Out of all the nine hit-and-run victims, 54-year-old Chen Tiecheng was the most seriously injured. He suffered a fractured neck and injured his waist, sources with the Hospital of the Beijing Military Command said yesterday.

Another two, Yang Guorong and Tian Changyuan, suffered leg injuries.

The other six were escaped with slight injuries and were discharged after receiving treatment.

Sources with the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Public Security declined to release further details yesterday.

According to a woman surnamed He who was walking along the street at the time of the incident, Ai dragged Li's body out of the taxi before driving off.

"The taxi sped by very fast and he was driving like a drunk man," another witness Gao recalled.

Pedestrians Hurt

Ai first ran down two pedestrians and a cyclist at a crossroad. Then he ran over several others before crashing into a pole, according to Gao.

According to an employer of a garment shop, Ai got out of the taxi and ran to the second floor of the shop.

Police arrested Ai in the shop.

The suspect Ai came to Beijing from Xinyang in 2000 to work, sources said.

He had no criminal record, according to local police in his hometown.

The murdered driver, who worked with the Beijing Zhongzhen Taxi Company, was from Erlangmiao Village in Shunyi District.

Li Wenfa, 41, was the main breadwinner in his family of seven, including his wife who did farm work and raised pigs, and his two school-going daughters.

(China Daily September 13, 2005)