Police in China have arrested a 27-year-old man as a suspect in the killing of 19 people in Yunnan province.

The name of the suspect is Yang Qingpei, according to information provided by Yunnan police. The suspect was arrested in the provincial capital Kunming. A video showing the suspect being arrested has gone viral on Chinese social media.  

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The murders had sent shockwaves across China, where mass killing is very rare. Xinhua reported that the 19 victims belonged to six different families and were found in the different parts of a remote mountainous village called Yema.

The 19 victims reportedly included three children; one was a three-year-old girl.

The motive behind the killing is still under investigation. However, local police have so far ruled out terrorism.

Many Chinese people have expressed shock and anger over the mass killing on social media.  

Last year, Chinese authorities hanged three people for a mass stabbing at the Kunming railway station, which left 31 people dead and over 140 injured.  The disturbing incident, which took place on March 1, 2014, was dubbed by Chinese state media as China's 9/11. Chinese President Xi described the incident as a "violent terrorist" attack. The Chinese government blamed the attack on separatists from Xinjiang province, where the Uyghur Muslim community is engaged in a low-intensity insurgency to form an independent nation.  

TagsYunnan Mass Killing, Mass Killing in China, Yunnan province, china, Chinese police