The final three people suspected of involvement in a slashing rampage that killed 29 people at a Chinese train station have been captured, authorities said.

The official Xinhua News Agency said a "terrorist gang" of eight members was responsible for the attack on Saturday evening in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province.

Citing a statement from the Ministry of Public Security, Xinhua said police shot and killed four of the attackers and captured an injured female suspect at the scene. Xinhua says the group was made up of six men and two women.

Authorities have said the attack, which also wounded 143 people, was carried out by separatists from the far west region of Xinjiang.

The far western region of Xinjiang is home to a simmering rebellion against Chinese rule by some members of the Muslim Uighur population, and the government has responded there with heavy-handed security.

Most attacks blamed on Uighur separatists take place in Xinjiang, where clashes between Uighurs and police or members of China's ethnic Han majority are frequent, but yesterday's assault happened more than 900 miles to the south east in Yunnan, which has not had a history of such unrest.

Witnesses to the attack described assailants dressed in black storming the train station and slashing people indiscriminately with large knives and machetes.