Associated Press - July 6, 2009 1:53 AM ET

BEIJING (AP) - Chinese state media says that 140 people have been killed and more than 800 hurt in violence in the country's western Xinjiang region.

The official Xinhua News Agency did not immediately give any other details Monday on the number of deaths, but said the death toll "was still climbing." It earlier reported that four people had been killed in violence after protesters from a Muslim ethnic group rioted Sunday in the region's capital Urumqi, overturning barricades, attacking bystanders and clashing with police.

The protesters were demanding an investigation into a fight between Uighurs and Han Chinese workers at a southern China factory last month that state media said left two people dead.

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