Chinese mourn Boston marathon bomb victim

Beijing: China`s Internet users on Wednesday mourned a female Chinese national killed in the Boston marathon bombing, with thousands of tribute messages posted online. The consulate in New York said a Chinese citizen, reported to be a masters student, was among three people killed in the explosions in the US city on Monday. "Terrorism has no national limits, the victims have no national limits. Together we condemn, together we mourn," one user of Sina Weibo, a social networking site similar to Twitter, wrote. "Poor child, go peacefully," wrote another. The consulate said relatives had requested the deceased not be identified but her name was being widely circulated in US and Hong Kong media. Hong Kong-based Phoenix Television identified the victim as Lu Lingzi and also reported her friend, Zhou Danling, was injured, adding that both were watching the race. Lu was studying for a masters degree at Boston University after graduating from the Beijing Institute of Technology, the report said. She came from the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang, the local Shenyang Evening News reported. Zhou, a Chinese national and Boston University graduate student, was in stable condition after surgery, China`s state news agency Xinhua said. Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed sorrow Wednesday over the death of the Chinese student and offered condolences to the injured woman and to both of their families, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported. Some Internet users posted photos of the victim but many condemned the naming. "Please respect the family`s wishes, and delete the name," a Sina Weibo user wrote. "The family requested anonymity, please respect this," another said. The two bombs, which exploded 13 seconds and about 100 metres (yards) apart, sprayed shrapnel into the crowd of thousands of people lining Boston`s Boylston Street to watch the runners cross the finish line. Three people were killed and at least 180 injured, according to the latest toll. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that the government had reached out to the families of both Chinese victims. "The Chinese leaders and government are very concerned about the death of the Chinese citizen and the injury of another one in the explosion," she said at a regular briefing. She added that the Chinese consulate has contacted the families of both and visited the injured person, whose condition she described as "stable" and not life-threatening, in hospital. The Chinese consulate "will provide every assistance" to the family members of both victims, she added, without naming them. In a statement, the US embassy in Beijing expressed condolences to the victims of the bombing, including the two Chinese. It said that the injured Chinese citizen was a graduate student from the southwestern city of Chengdu but did not name either victim. US officials had been in touch with the victims` relatives and Chinese foreign ministry, the statement said, adding that "our hearts go out to the families of all victims". AFP