140 Dead After Weekend Violence In China

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BEIJING, China (CNN) -- At least 140 people were dead and more than 800 others injured after weekend violence in China's far west Xinjiang region, the regional public security department said Monday, according to state-run media.

The death toll was expected to climb, according to a regional government spokesman, as reported by China's official Xinhua news agency.

Ethnic Uyghur residents in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang, took to the streets Sunday afternoon in a rare public protest that prompted a police lock-down of the city.