TERROR HAUNTS

The killers, "like sharks that forced into a shoal of small fish", caused panic among the crowd in the square outside the railway station's main building, said Zhang Peng, an official at Kunming railway station. "They slashed at every man and woman in sight, and blood was everywhere."

Cleaners worked overnight to clean the square of blood stains. But Han Yizhen, one of the cleaners, showed Xinhua reporters a dried pool of blood just outside the ticket office.

Han had finished her shift at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday. "My supervisor called me at 11 and told me about the killings. He also told me I could come to work later."

So Han clocked in at 7 a.m. instead of the normal 5:40 a.m.

"The station was crowded as usual, but I noticed some changes," she said. "Instead of sitting down on the ground, smoking, playing cards and eating snacks, most passengers chose to stand or walk around with their luggage, as if they were ready to flee at any moment."

At the end of the morning, Han said she cleaned up far less garbage than usual, as fewer people ate packaged food and fewer peddlers toured the area.

Han said she began hesitating as to whether she should keep her cleaning job. At 62, she still works seven days a week and is paid 1,300 yuan (211.5 U.S. dollars) a month. Her husband does the same job.

"But if I quit, it'll be harder for him to feed the family alone."

Wang Guofu, a college student in Kunming, insisted he should see his girlfriend Liu Yujiao off to Qujing, another city in Yunnan Province where Liu studies computer science at university.

Both are natives of eastern Shandong Province. "Our parents still don't know what has happened in Kunming -- they rarely watch television or read newspapers," said Wang, 21. "It's better they don't know. Otherwise, they'd be worried."